HJAR Sep/Oct 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  SEP / OCT 2023 41 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com that may improve the way the disease is treated around the world. The discovery, which identifies a 64-protein- gene signature that can predict primary treatment resistance in patients with high grade ovarian can- cer, was published Aug. 3 in the journal Cell . Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and UAMS vice chancellor, is a senior author on the Cell publication. The Birrer lab helped design, implement, ana- lyze, and interpret the results of the study and was critical in assuring the project had sufficient clinically annotated patient specimens for the state of the art proteomic/genomic analysis. The team characterized proteins and genetic mark- ers in 242 high-grade serous ovarian cancers that responded or did not respond to treatment. “For the first time, we will know if a patient is unlikely to get better with standard treatment and make better recommendations for them to imme- diately explore other options like new therapeu- tics in clinical trials.” Further, the study identifies five subgroups of refractory tumors by specific activated pathways, some of which may be targetable. UAMS Oral Health Clinic Celebrates Anniversary, Expansion The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Delta Dental of Arkansas Founda- tion Oral Health Clinic with a ceremony to mark its expansion into a newly remodeled space. The renovated area adds 3,490 square feet to the clinic’s existing footprint. With the expansion, the 12,800 square-foot clinic now has four new dental hygiene operatories for a total of 15, sup- porting three full-time hygienists and enhancing patient appointment availability. The clinic first saw patients in January 2013. Since then, it has provided more than 80,000 dental treatment appointments to about 18,000 patients. The increase in dental operatories from the expansion also will enable the residency pro- gram to apply for two additional residency slots, potentially increasing the program from six resi- dents to eight. NARMCNurse, Bailey Savage, APRN, Joins Primary, Obstetrical Clinic In September, Bailey Savage, APRN, is joining Ross Halsted, MD, Robert Foy, MD, and Taesha Winford, RN, at the new Primary and Obstetrical Care Clinic of North Arkansas Regional Medical Center (NARMC), located at the Med Plaza, Suite 230, 1401 Highway 65 North. Savage earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Arkansas Tech University, graduating summa cum laude, and a Master of Science with a family nurse practitioner specialty from Frontier Nursing University in Versailles, Kentucky. David Persson, MD, Joins CHI St. Vincent Primary Care Clinic - Village East in Hot Springs Village CHI St. Vincent announced that David Pers- son, MD, has joined the team of physicians at the CHI St. Vincent Primary Care Clinic - Village East in Hot Springs Village. Persson is now see- ing patients at the clinic, located at 410 Ponce De Leon Drive. After attending medical school at Eastern Vir- ginia Medical Center, Persson completed a res- idency in internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia. He previously served as an internal medicine phy- sician at Christus Health in Shreveport, Louisiana, and most recently at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton, Arkansas. He is certified in internal medi- cine by the Arkansas State Medical Board UA Little Rock Center for Simulation Innovation Receives International Recognition The UA Little Rock Center for Simulation Inno- vation in the School of Nursing has been interna- tionally recognized for excellence in nursing sim- ulation education. The Center for Simulation Innovation (CSI) has received the 2023 Frontline Simulation Champion Excellence Award from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL), an association dedicated to advancing the science of healthcare simulation. Nursing faculty members Joanna Hall, director of simulation, and SarahBeth Phillips, assistant clinical professor, received the award on behalf of the UA Little Rock CSI team during the 2023 INACSL Annual Conference. Baptist Health Family Clinic-LonokeWelcomes Emily Reams, MD Emily Reams, MD, recently joined Baptist Health Family Clinic-Lonoke. Reams received a medical degree at the Uni- versity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She later Michael Birrer, MD, PhD Bailey Savage, APRN Emily Reams, MD