Dec. 23, 2008 | The ongoing facelift of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) campus highlighted 2008 as a comprehensive psychiatric facility opened and a major expansion to the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute reached its highest point.
As the year ends, preparations are in high gear for the Jan. 16 opening of the new UAMS hospital, a 540,000-square-foot structure connected to the hospital�s existing Ward Tower.
The 110,000-square-foot UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute opened Dec. 2 adjacent to the new hospital. The six-floor, $32 million building is one of only nine psychiatric institutions in the country combining research and education with inpatient and outpatient care.
The 40-bed facility marks the first time in 30 years that UAMS has been able to provide inpatient psychiatric care.
�This is a very important day, not just for our department and UAMS but for the entire state,� said G. Richard Smith, M.D., chairman of the UAMS Department of Psychiatry and Institute director, during the grand-opening ceremony. �This new Institute is going to open up a lot of avenues for psychiatric patients across Arkansas.�
�The Cancer Institute is in the midst of the most exciting time of growth in its history. This expansion ultimately will double our capacity to treat patients and to conduct research that will someday lead to new, life-saving treatments,� said Peter Emanuel, M.D., Cancer Institute director.
Since opening its doors in 1989, the Cancer Institute, Arkansas� only academic cancer center, has grown to include 15 specialty and seven support clinics. In fiscal year 2007, there were 120,000 patient visits, compared to 75,000 in 2000. Patient volume has already surpassed predictions made in 2005, in part because of new patients, but also because of new life-prolonging treatments.
UAMS education programs found more room with the October opening of a two-floor, 43,000-square-foot classroom building. The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees named the building in honor of UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. The I. Dodd Wilson Education Building includes 16 classrooms and two auditoriums.
Growth at UAMS was not confined to the campus as plans continued in 2008 for a satellite campus in Northwest Arkansas at the former Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. The first students are expected to arrive for the 2009 fall semester.
The satellite campus effort, intended to allow UAMS to continue increasing enrollment to meet growing demand for health care professionals, garnered support from groups across the region. Arkansas philanthropists, including Don Tyson and The Tyson Family Foundation, the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and Johnelle Hunt, joined other community groups with donations and gifts to help pay for renovating the facility.
The campus will include students in the UAMS colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Health Related Professions. The UAMS Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Northwest also will move into the building.
UAMS faculty, researchers and caregivers made headlines throughout the year.
Among the past year�s achievements highlighted in each of the four UAMS missions:
Patient Care
The UAMS Department of Psychiatry began offering a new drug treatment program unique to Arkansas. The Chemical Dependency Outpatient Program fills the gap between residential drug addiction programs and community-run treatment, such as 12-step programs.
Alexander �Sandy� Burnett, M.D., a UAMS gynecologic oncologist, became the first surgeon in Arkansas to use a robotic procedure to remove a patient�s cancerous cervix through the abdomen while preserving her ability to have children. He performed the robotic radical trachelectomy using UAMS� da Vinci surgical robot.
Business technology magazine Information Week recognized UAMS in its annual InformationWeek 500 ranking of the most innovative users of technology in the nation. The publication recognized how UAMS manages its information technology resources.
UAMS and the Cancer Institute were named Arkansas� only Blue Distinction Center for Complex and Rare Cancers by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. UAMS was recognized as a Blue Distinction Center for six types of cancer: bladder cancer, brain cancer � primary, gastric cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and acute leukemia (inpatient, non-surgical). There are 85 Blue Distinction Center for Complex and Rare Cancers in the United States focusing on 13 cancers, which together account for about 15 percent of new cancer cases annually.
Education
Three University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) programs were featured in the latest U.S. News & World Report �America�s Best Graduate Schools.� The UAMS College of Medicine geriatrics program placed in the top 10 geriatric programs in the nation for the sixth year in a row. The UAMS College of Medicine primary care program, which includes family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, ranked 35th among top medical schools in the nation � up 10 places from the previous year. The UAMS College of Nursing master�s program ranked 40th among nursing programs.
UAMS was recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) for being in the top ten nationally in producing family medicine physicians.
UAMS awarded certificates and degrees to 827 graduates of its five colleges and graduate school during its May 2008 commencement ceremony. Diplomas were presented to 142 in the College of Medicine; 195 in the College of Nursing; 114 in the College of Pharmacy; 47 in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health; and 70 in the Graduate School. The highest graduate total was 259 from the 17 academic programs that make up the College of Health Related Professions. The number of graduates increased more than nine percent from the 756 graduates in 2007.
A joint agreement between the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health and Hendrix College now allows undergraduate students at the four-year college to begin earning credit toward a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree. Beginning in their junior year, students at the liberal arts college in Conway can start earning select credit hours through the joint program that will go toward both their undergraduate and M.P.H. degrees.
Research
UAMS researchers reported a 10-fold life extension in the complex animal C. elegans, tiny worms that live in the soil. C. elegans are barely visible to the eye but are helping scientists unravel the causes of aging and understand what determines life span. The team of researchers was led by Robert Shmookler Reis, Ph.D., professor in the UAMS Departments of Geriatrics, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Pharmacology/Toxicology.
A study by Mark Mennemeier, Ph.D., and John Dornhoffer, M.D., showed a potential new treatment for tinnitus, commonly known as �ringing in the ears.� The researchers used maintenance sessions of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reduce tinnitus loudness and prevent its return over time.
The UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy started clinical trials with treatment plans tailored based on the genetic makeup of the tumor. The trials are believed to be the first such clinical trials for multiple myeloma or any other cancer. The new trials came as 25 percent of the 231 patients enrolled in UAMS� initial multiple myeloma clinical trial, known as Total Therapy 1, are still alive beyond 10 years all the way out to 18 years. Almost 60 percent of those enrolled in a 1998 clinical trial, Total Therapy 2, are still alive. These rates are compared to a historical five-year survival rate of 34 percent reported by the National Cancer Institute for 1995-2001.
Breast cancer researcher Thomas Kelly, Ph.D., was awarded a U.S. Department of Defense Synergistic Idea Award for his breast cancer research project focusing on the role of fibroblast activation protein-alpha (FAP) in breast cancer metastasis. Out of 134 proposals submitted for this award, Kelly�s project was one of only 14 selected for funding.
UAMS birth defects expert Charlotte Hobbs, M.D., Ph.D., will lead a study of children in Benton County of factors that influence the development of such conditions as autism, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, birth defects, diabetes, asthma and obesity. The study is part of the National Children�s Study by the National Institutes of Health, the largest ever investigation of child health.
Drug addiction researcher Warren Bickel, Ph.D., director of the UAMS Center for Addiction Research, received his fourth concurrent grant from the National Institutes of Health�s National Institute on Drug Abuse for a study to determine whether the effects of addiction on the brain�s executive function can be reversed or rehabilitated. About 2 percent of the NIH�s grant recipients ever receive four or more concurrent awards.
Serving
Four regional Arkansas hospitals joined a new round-the-clock telemedicine program that links their doctors with UAMS neonatologists anytime a newborn requires special medical attention. The neonatal telemedicine program links UAMS experts in care of infants up to two months old with the Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado, St. Edwards Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith, Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and Willow Creek Women�s Hospital in Johnson. Other hospitals are expected to be added as the program grows.
A statewide program, Arkansas SAVES (Stroke Assistance Through Virtual Emergency Support), led by UAMS expects to improve Arkansas� ranking as the state with the most stroke-related deaths per capita. The new program uses a high-tech, video communication system to help provide immediate, life-saving treatments to stroke victims 24 hours a day.
Researchers at the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health reported that student teasing about weight has not increased since the implementation of a 2003 state law requiring body mass index screenings and other changes in schools to address the state�s childhood obesity epidemic. With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a UAMS research team designed a study to determine if students� experiences had borne out the concern that the testing would focus negative attention on children�s weight. The team conducted telephone surveys of 6,417 parents and 1,042 students ages 14 and older who attend public schools in Arkansas.
An alliance of public health advocates including UAMS announced a campaign to educate families about potential long-term and serious health problems in adults and children caused by lead-based paint and urge construction contractors or anyone renovating homes to use practices that minimize exposure to dust from the paint. A series of lead education workshops for contractors and families was planned for several communities to distribute information on how to prevent exposure and meet a new federal regulation requiring contractors to minimize exposure in their work.