HJAR Nov/Dec 2022

34 NOV / DEC 2022  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs acts, and poverty, but we need to understand how to address the issues,” Zaller said. “We’ll con- duct one of the first studies that will focus on the effects of universal basic income, guaranteed income and the health of a specific demographic in the South. We’re happy to have received the grant and the opportunity to do the study.” Black men ages 45 and older will be the focus of the research. The study will include some par- ticipants who have previously been incarcerated. Each participant will be interviewed and surveyed three times during the 12-month study. Some of the men will be randomly selected to receive a financial stipend, which is downloaded onto a card, to use through the duration of the study. They will also have to complete a weekly finan- cial log of how they use the stipend. “We’ll study the health habits, commonalities and differences between the people who get the money and the ones who don’t,” Montgom- ery said. The researchers will collaborate with long- standing community partners to carry out the project, which will be conducted exclusively in Pulaski County. “By focusing on Pulaski County, we can use both quantitative and qualitative data collec- tion methods to thoroughly evaluate the impor- tance of addressing the racial income gap and how it relates to health among men who are more likely to have a shared geographic and historical context. Our goal is to advance antiracist health research as well as to inform policies that pro- mote health equity and dismantle structural rac- ism and discrimination across multiple systems of oppression.” Montgomery said. “Through this grant, we’ll also learn how income effects second- ary measures related to their mental and physi- cal health and how the men function in society. “Are they going start engaging more in their communities? Will they be happier? How will the funding effect what they do with their chil- dren and families? Those are some examples of the questions we’ll look to answer through this research grant.” Zaller noted that “having limited finances can force people to put their health on the back- burner, especially individuals who are coming out of the criminal justice system.” This grant is the first of its kind in Arkansas and the first NIH grant that will focus on rigorously testing ways to dismantle structural racism. “We’ve received the opportunity to wed the Southern Public Health and Criminal Justice Research Center’s mission with research as a means to learn how we can promote racial jus- tice,” Montgomery said. “I envision this as a tool for supporting numerous endeavors in the par- ticipants’ life. We are here to help people. That’s what this research, this grant is all about.” The R01 grant and the forthcoming research project are a means to provide well-documented numerical solutions to issues that lead to other problems. “With the grant, we’re going to find out if just being financial stability is enough for people to prioritize their health,” Zaller said. Kalyan Kancherla, MD, Joins CHI St. Vincent Primary Care Little Rock CHI St. Vincent announced that Kalyan Kancherla, MD, has joined the team of primary care physicians serving Arkansas communities through the ministry’s network of convenient care clinics. He is currently seeing patients at the CHI St. Vincent Primary and Convenient Care clinic located at 4202 South University Ave. Kancherla completed a residency at University of North Carolina Health Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton and earned a medi- cal degree at NRI Medical School in India. The team of healthcare professionals at the CHI St. Vincent Primary and Convenient Care on South University specializes in assisting and treating minor conditions such as colds, coughs, infections, minor burns, and other nonemergency issues as well as preventive medicine, manage- ment of chronic conditions such as diabetes, and coordinating care between specialists. S. Bradley Hicks, MD, Joins Washington Regional Gastroenterology Clinic Bradley Hicks, MD, recently joined Washington Regional Gastroenterology Clinic, located inside Fayetteville Diagnostic Clinic at 3344 N. Futrall Drive in Fayetteville, where he provides evalua- tion and treatment of disorders and diseases of the digestive system as well as preventive well- ness and diagnostic endoscopy procedures. Hicks earned a medical degree from the Uni- versity of Alabama School of Medicine and com- pleted a residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He recently completed a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Indiana University School of Graduate Medical Education in Indianapolis. Hicks is board certified in internal medicine. Min C. Yoo, MD, FACS, Joins Highlands Oncology Highlands Oncology is excited to announce the arrival of a new breast surgeon. Min Yoo, MD, joins a growing surgical oncology team at High- lands. Her focus is on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the breast. Yoo received an under- graduate degree in engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and went on to study medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Yoo completed a general surgery residency at Kalyan Kancherla, MD S. Bradley Hicks, MD