HJLR Mar/Apr 2019

Healthcare Journal of little rock I  MAR / APR 2019 41 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalLR.com for decades. Until now, the pediatric outcomes associated with the increased C-section rate have been relatively unclear. Although some studies have suggested that C-sections may be associ- ated with an increased risk of autism, attention deficit, and hyperactivity, other research has not found a clear link between C-section and brain outcomes such as intelligence quotient (IQ).  Xiawei Ou, PhD, director of the ACNC’s brain imaging laboratory and associate professor of radiology and pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), along with collaborators at the Advanced Baby Imag- ing Lab at Brown University, set out to better characterize how C-section birth impacts brain development. Using magnetic resonance imag- ing (MRI), they studied the brains of over 300 healthy children ranging in age from two weeks to eight years old. Their results showed that babies who were born through C-section had significantly lower white matter development and functional connectivity in certain regions of the brain.  These differences seem to disappear by around three years of age in the children studied.   “The clinical and scientific implications of these findings could be vast,” said Ou. “Knowing the underlying factors that drive brain remodeling and growth during infancy is critical to under- stand how early-life events such as C-section birth influence later-life behavior and cognition.” The long-term ramifications of these findings are not known yet. Ou has secured pilot grant funding to further explore specific factors that impact brain biology, neurocognition, learning, and behavior phenotypes. ACNC is a major research center of the Arkansas Children’s research enterprise funded by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (USDA- ARS) as part of the Human Nutrition Research Centers program. ACNC is one of six USDA-ARS national human nutrition research centers. Kaleidoscope Grief Center Seeks Volunteers to Serve Children, Families in Grief Losing a loved one is difficult for everyone, and grieving that loss is essential to accepting painful feelings and creating an opportunity for growth and a new sense of normal. Methodist Fam- ily Health’s Kaleidoscope Grief Center recently hosted a training for volunteers, who assist in family peer support groups and Kaleidoscope’s Kids Club. Kaleidoscope Grief Center is for Arkansas chil- dren ages 5–18 and their families who have lost a loved one and are coping with grief and bereave- ment. Utilizing both therapy and recreation, Kalei- doscope Grief Center offers children and fami- lies an opportunity to discover their own inner strength. Focus of Science Café: You Are HowYou Eat—Food Safety Science Café Little Rock, co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sci- ences (UAMS), recently held a public forum, You Are How You Eat—Food Safety. Panelists dis- cussed food choices and the handling, prepara- tion, and storage of food to prevent food-borne illness. The panel for the event included Renee Smith, director of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Man- agement Institute at Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock; Kristen Gibson, PhD, an associate pro- fessor of molecular food safety and microbiology in the Department of Food Science at the Univer- sity of Arkansas in Fayetteville; and Tracie Wil- son, an environmental health specialist with the Faulkner County Health Unit in Conway. Dorothy Graves, associate director for adminis- tration of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Can- cer Institute, moderated the event. Science Café includes a corresponding live radio call-in pro- gram, “Science Café Little Rock,” on National Public Radio-affiliate station KUAR FM89. The sci- ence talk show, featuring one speaker from the monthly panel of scientists and experts, is aired just prior (6:05-6:30 p.m.) to the live Science Café event. Smith is this month’s radio guest. AFMCAnnounces New Management Hires and Promotions AFMC, a nonprofit healthcare quality improve- ment and education organization serving Arkan- sas’ healthcare community and healthcare con- sumers, has appointed Gloria Boone and Hannah Ray to serve on its executive management team. Tom Ricciardone has been named executive busi- ness development and sales. Gloria Boone was promoted to chief of member services and will oversee AFMC’s Service Center, which helps Medicaid beneficiaries with resources and services, and beneficiary education and out- reach. She has worked with AFMC since 2007 in provider outreach, and as AFMC’s liaison with the Arkansas Medical Society and the Arkansas Divi- sion of Medical Services. “AFMC is very fortunate to have someone with Gloria’s experience oversee our service center that takes thousands of calls a day, along with our statewide Medicaid beneficiary education work,” said AFMC President and CEO Ray Hanley. Boone has more than 20 years of experience in administration and practice management, work- ing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sci- ences (UAMS) in Magnolia and at the UAMS Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in El Dorado. She developed and implemented the practice management program curriculum for resident physicians. She also implemented the patient- centered medical home and episodes of care payment models, part of the federal initiative to transition healthcare from fee-based to value- based care. Hannah Ray has been hired as AFMC’s govern- ment affairs executive. According to Ray Hanley, “We interviewed sev- eral well-qualified applicants, but Hannah stood out strongly from the first interview. She comes to us from Gov. Hutchinson’s staff with a deep understanding of healthcare policy. She will be a great presence for the company at the Capitol and with legislators.” Before becoming a public health liaison for the governor, she had an intern- ship in Congressman Cotton’s office and was a Xiawei Ou, PhD