HJAR Mar/Apr 2023

32 MAR / APR 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs WeMourn the Loss of Susan Smyth, MD, PhD The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) sadly announced that Susan Smyth, MD, PhD, executive vice chancellor and dean of the College of Medicine, died Dec. 31, 2022, after a battle with cancer. “Susan was a remarkable leader, colleague and friend who will be deeply missed by many across our state, especially those of us fortunate enough to work with her,” wrote Chancellor Cam Patter- son, MD, MBA, in an announcement to UAMS employees and students. “Her death is a great loss for UAMS, our state and all who knew her.” She is survived by her husband, Andrew Morris, PhD, professor in the UAMS Department of Phar- macology and Toxicology, and their sons, Edward and William. Smyth was a nationally respected cardiologist and translational researcher who joined UAMS in 2021 from the University of Kentucky, where she was chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Med- icine and director of the Gill Heart and Vascular Institute. She also served as a cardiologist and funded investigator for the VA Health Care Sys- tem. She was a member of the American Soci- ety for Clinical Investigation, past president of the Association of University Cardiologists, and served on the CTSA Steering Committee for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sci- ence. Smyth authored more than 200 publications and contributed to over a dozen textbooks. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts in biology before earning both a medical degree and a PhD in pharmacology from the Uni- versity of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She com- pleted an internal medicine residency, including a year as chief resident, at University Medical Cen- ter in Stony Brook, New York, and cardiology fel- lowships at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and the University of North Carolina, where she joined the faculty in 2001. After joining UAMS, Smyth launched and expanded numerous initiatives to improve health in Arkansas while also increasing the College of Medicine’s national standings in primary care and other aspects of education, research, and clinical care. She made the pursuit of health equity, diver- sity, and inclusion a top priority for the college. Her funded research focused on the interplay between inflammation and thrombosis in vascular biology. In November, she was invested at UAMS in the Arkansas Medical Society Distinguished Dean’s Chair during a ceremony in which her husband Andrew also was invested in the Mehta Stebbins Chair in Cardiovascular Research. UAMS has appointed G. Richard Smith, MD, for- mer dean of the College of Medicine and found- ing director of the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute, to serve as interim dean. U.S. Defense Department Awards UAMS Cancer Researcher $760K to Study Aggressive Type of Lymphoma Samantha Kendrick, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received a $760,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study a fast-growing type of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma common among veterans and military personnel. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive blood cancer that affects B-lympho- cytes, a type of white blood cell that makes anti- bodies to fight infections and are an important part of the lymphatic system. Second only to mel- anoma, DLBCL is the fastest growing cancer in the world and accounts for 30% of cancer cases worldwide. More than 18,000 people are diag- nosed with DLBCL each year. Funded by the Defense Department’s Con- gressionally Directed Medical Research Program, Kendrick’s three-year study entitled “Targeting Unique DNA Structures to Repress Oncogenic Signaling in Lymphoma” will use sophisticated technology called proteomics to identify proteins that interact with a unique DNA structure called the G-quadruplex (G4) that forms within a regula- tory region of a key B-cell receptor gene. “This grant will allow us to understand the underlying biology of one of the most common B-cell cancers and what is really driving some of the aggressive tumors that are unresponsive to current therapy,” added Kendrick, a cancer researcher at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute whose husband is a veteran and lymphoma survivor. Lymphoma is among one of many cancers that can be connected to a veteran’s military service. Nearly 13,000 veterans with Non-Hodgkin lym- phoma received VA disability compensation in 2021. Lymphoma is often linked to exposure to toxic substances, which is the case for many mili- tary service members. Risk for lymphoma is 50% higher for Vietnam veterans. “Lymphomas are not single diseases but con- sist of multiple subsets that will require personal- ized medicine for some patients to survive,” said Kendrick. “It’s very exciting to be part of this foun- dational research to better understand how these tumors develop.” Kendrick has been studying lymphoma for more than a decade, beginning as a doctoral student at the University of Arizona. Originally from Can- ada, she completed undergraduate and graduate studies at McMaster University in Ontario. She is the recipient of a 2013 Lymphoma Research Foun- dation Postdoctoral Fellowship and is a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Woman of the Year nom- inee. She joined UAMS in 2017. ADHBreastCare Program Coordinates No-Cost Cervical, Breast Cancer Screenings The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) BreastCare program coordinates efforts with a statewide network of providers offering no-cost cervical and breast cancer screenings and follow- up services. Cervical cancer is largely preventable with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination and routine pap tests to detect pre-cancers. Yet, in 2022, an estimated 160 Arkansas women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 50 women died due to cervical cancer. Cancers diagnosed at late stages (III or IV) are generally associated with poor outcomes and higher treatment costs. Women who are diag- nosed at earlier stages have a greater chance of survival. Cervical screening services are imper- ative for early detection and better treatment outcomes. Cervical cancer can often be found early, and sometimes even prevented, by having regular screening tests. If detected early, cervi- cal cancer is one of the most successfully treat- able cancers. Women ages 21-64 can be screened for cervi- cal cancer regardless of ethnicity or nationality