HJAR May/Jun 2026

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAY / JUN 2026 31 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com to residency programs in Arkansas, while 88 matched to residencies in other states. Corey Greene, APRN, Joins Baptist Health Family Clinic-SalemRoad Corey Greene, APRN, has joined Baptist Health Family Clinic-Salem Road. Greene attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for under- graduate studies and earned his nursing degree and a master’s degree in nursing science at UAMS. Greene is dual board-certified in adult- gerontology primary care and ambulatory care nursing. UAMS Researcher Participates in Project Examining DNA Damage, Cancer Mutations Gunnar Boysen, PhD, associate professor in the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Environmental Health Sciences, is among a coalition of researchers assessing if damage in DNA happens on the same side that cancer mutations occur. Boysen and his team at UAMS are responsible for determining the posi- tion of DNA modification and the binding of exposure to DNA. The “Virtual Consortium for Translational/Trans- disciplinary Environmental Research (ViCTER)” planning study launched in February 2025 and will continue through January 2028. In addition to UAMS, the consortium includes the University of California at San Diego and the University of South Florida. The National Institutes of Environ- mental Health Sciences has funded the project for $2.2 million. There have been a number of efforts to iden- tify cancer mutations and mutations driving tumor development. This project strives to bring clarity to a gap in the research. $200KGift to UAMS to Support ALS Treatment, Research UAMS received a $200,000 gift from J. Thomas “Tommy” May and Kathryn May to elevate the J. Thomas May Endowed Chair in the Department of Neurology in the UAMS College of Medicine to a distinguished chair. The J. Thomas May Endowed Distinguished Chair supports research and clinical care for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the J. Thomas May Center for ALS Research at the UAMS main campus and the UAMS Health ALS Clinic at the Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville. The fund will support ALS care to patients statewide and help train, recruit, and retain ALS physician-researchers. Additionally, the fund will accelerate research and clinical trial participation and enhance the overall quality of clinical care for individuals living with ALS. The distinguished chair was named in honor of Tommy May of Pine Bluff, former CEO of Sim- mons First National Corp. May, a longtime sup- porter of UAMS, was diagnosed with ALS in 2005. In 2008, UAMS established the J. Thomas May Center for ALS Research in honor of May. Cardiologist Srikanth Vallurupalli, MD, Named UAMS Director of Cardiovascular Medicine Srikanth Vallurupalli, MD, a cardiologist and multimodality cardiac imager, has been named the director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at UAMS and associate director of UAMS’ cardiovascular clinical services. Vallurupalli is an associate professor in the division, which is part of the Department of Internal Medicine. Since 2020, he has directed the UAMS cardiovascular medicine fellowship program and the UAMS noninvasive cardiac laboratory. He helped launch and is the inaugural program director of the UAMS structural imaging fellowship, which is enrolling its first fellow this year. Prior to 2020, he established the valve disease program and served as the medical director of the Little Rock VA noninvasive lab and its home-based cardiac rehab program. Vallurupalli received a medical degree from the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Pondicherry, India. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serving as chief medical resident. He then served as an assistant professor of internal medicine at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, Illinois. He completed a fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at UAMS in 2015, serving as chief cardiology fellow. Vallurupalli is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, nuclear medicine, and echocardiography. He serves as the president of the board of directors of the Central Arkansas American Heart Association. He replaces Paul Mounsey, MD, PhD, as the division chair. Mounsey continues to see patients at UAMS. Baptist Health Community Outreach, Arkansas Foodbank Partner to Launch Food Is MedicineMobile Health Screenings Baptist Health Community Outreach and the Arkansas Foodbank are partnering on a Food Is Medicine initiative, providing free health screen- ings and education to residents across several Arkansas communities. The program utilizes the Baptist Health Mobile Health Unit to meet Arkansas residents where they are, offering vital health services directly at local food pantries. This initiative aims to bridge Corey Greene, APRN Srikanth Vallurupalli, MD