HJAR Jul/Aug 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JUL / AUG 2022 37 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com Sanz will spend two months at Columbia’s New York-based campus conducting research under the mentorship of Magdalena Sobieszczyk, MD, an infectious disease physician researcher at Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. “This is a tremendous honor and we are all incredibly proud of Student Doctor Sanz,” said Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant dean of research at NYITCOM at A-State. “SD Sanz has been preparing herself by developing a variety of skills at the interface of biomedical and clinical research. This fellowship will catalyze her aspira- tions to become a top physician scientist.” The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), in col- laboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, offers RAMP Scholar grants to provide African American and Latinx medical students with opportunities for independent research along with structured mentoring, project and salary funding, training, and professional devel- opment activities. HVTN has expanded eligibil- ity requirements for the coming years to include Native American/American Indian, Native Hawai- ian, Asian, and Pacific Islander medical students. Each year, HVTN awards up to nine RAMP grants to U.S. medical students. RAMP Schol- ars conduct research projects in areas of basic, clinical, behavioral, laboratory, and social science related to the HVTN scientific agenda. Sanz’s project is titled, “Stick2PrEP Cisgender Women/ Trans Individuals: Increasing Pre-Exposure Pro- phylaxis (PrEP) Uptake, Adherence, and Reten- tion in Care, and Understanding PrEP Preferences Among Predominantly Black and Latinx Cisgen- der Women and Transgender Individuals” Sanz is a native of Orlando, Florida, and earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida before attending NYITCOM at A-State. Arkansas Children’s Research Institute Names Jefferson, Rumpel as 2022Marion B. Lyon Revocable Trust New Scientists Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) is awarding two early-career investigators up to $75,000 each to fund their work as the 2022 Mar- ion B. Lyon Revocable Trust New Scientist Devel- opment recipients. The annual award supports highly promising beginning researchers in their efforts to become independent investigators and fosters an environ- ment where young scientists can flourish. The 2022 honorees are: Akilah A. Jefferson, MD, MSc, an assistant pro- fessor of allergy and immunology in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine, who also sees patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). With research focused on asthma and health disparities, Jefferson has a special interest in population health, health pol- icy, and social determinants affecting asthma outcomes. Asthma is the most common chronic condition among children in the United States, affecting more than 5.5 million children nation- wide and roughly one in 10 children in Arkansas. Jefferson’s Lyon-funded project will leverage ACH’s electronic medical record (EMR) to identify at-risk children and assess relevant measures in reducing asthma risk. The ACH electronic medical record will give the study access to a large sample of children across the state who receive their care through Arkansas’ only pediatric health system. Population-based risk prediction has the poten- tial to guide interventions to improve health and reduce children’s burden of living with asthma. Jennifer Rumpel, MD, an assistant professor of neonatology in the UAMS College of Medicine, who also practices at Arkansas Children’s Hospi- tal. Her principal research interest is acute kid- ney injury in premature newborns, which affects at least 30% of babies admitted to neonatal inten- sive care units. Acute kidney injury results in short- and long-term consequences for premature new- borns, raising their risk of chronic kidney disease and greatly increasing their chances of dying. Rumpel’s Lyon-funded project will create and vali- date a model to predict which babies with acute kidney injury face the highest risks of mortality. With an understanding of modifiable risk factors, continued research can focus on reducing those risks and helping premature newborns live longer, better lives. Healthcare providers could also use the proposed risk stratification score while caring for individual babies, tailoring clinical care to cre- ate better outcomes. Arkansas Urology Using Advanced Prostate Cancer Diagnostic Tool Arkansas Urology is using a new radioactive diagnostic agent, Illuccix, that offers more pre- cise detection of prostate cancer treatment plan- ning and targeted care. Arkansas Urology is the first in the state and among the first in the coun- try to offer this tool. “This new, innovative technology allows us to detect small prostate tumors, where other types of scans might miss them, and it provides more accurate information regarding the spread and location of the cancer,” said Kevin Claybrook, Jessika Sanz Akilah A. Jefferson, MD, MSc Jennifer Rumpel, MD