The April-May TRIbune tells the story of the response to COVID-19 by TRI and our UAMS researchers. UAMS clinicians stepped forward and the TRI team rallied to support 92 COVID-19-related research projects. 

This issue also highlights the life-saving role played by the Implementation Science Scholars program in helping Kapil Arya, M.D., quickly set up a statewide newborn screening process for spinal muscular atrophy.

You’ll also read about utilization of the UAMS Rural Research Network to help a new COVID-19 study led by Wendy Nembhard, Ph.D., M.P.H., and the TRI-supported COVID-19 ACTIV-4 ACUTE trial, led by Srikanth Vallurupalli, M.D.  Read The TRIbune.

Oliver Hurst owes his life to a luckily timed move across the country. His father and mother, who was then three months pregnant with Oliver, arrived in Vilonia from California in March 2020.

At the time, UAMS’ Kapil Arya, M.D., was developing strategies as a UAMS Translational Research Institute Implementation Science Scholar to establish statewide newborn screenings for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare disease that can disable a newborn within months.

The only effective treatment for SMA is a single-dose $2.1 million gene editing therapy – the most expensive one-time treatment in the world, Arya said. It must be provided within a few weeks of birth to counter the most severe form of SMA, which can be fatal in the first few years of life. Less severe forms can cause a lifetime of disability.

Arya, an associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, is part of the 2020 Implementation Science Scholar class, which is conducted by the UAMS Center for Implementation Research. He saw the program as an opportunity to learn skills that would help him implement the statewide SMA screening.

“Implementation science is the science of teaching you how to do a particular thing in the best way possible,” said Arya, who treats patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. “I knew the goals we wanted to achieve with the newborn screening, and implementation science taught me how to achieve those goals.”

The Arkansas SMA screening law was enacted in 2019, but a complex system was still necessary to make the screening routine across the state. Arya helped facilitate the purchase and validation of sophisticated testing equipment, developed training programs and created materials to reach all corners of the state. He also worked with insurers to secure coverage of the treatment cost, and persuaded them to accelerate their approval timeline by several months.

By the time Oliver was born at Conway Regional Medical Center in August, the screenings were being conducted statewide.

The scholars program may have given him the skills to implement the screening, but Arya’s tireless commitment also played a role, said Sara Landes, Ph.D., his primary mentor as a core faculty member at the Center for Implementation Research.

“To go from legislation to full implementation so fast sounds made-up – it just doesn’t usually work that way,” said Landes, an associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. “He has engaged with stakeholders at all levels – patients, providers, health systems, payers and policymakers. It’s really impressive.”

With about 1 in 10,000 newborns diagnosed with SMA, Arkansas will have an estimated three to four cases each year.

Oliver happened to be one of them in 2020. His mother, Elaine Hurst, said she and her husband Darrell were “wrecked” by the news but hopeful the proposed treatment would work.

Oliver received the single dose infusion of Zolgensma, which uses a common virus to carry the gene-editing tools that should cure him of SMA. 

So far so good, Hurst said, and she is thankful for her family’s good fortune. California, they learned later, did not have the SMA screening when Oliver was born.  

“Moving to Arkansas saved Ollie’s life,” she said.

The March TRIbune newsletter arrived with a timely update on the work of UAMS early career researchers in the Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) Scholars program for postdoctoral fellows.

Check out how this innovative new program is affecting UAMS’ research enterprise and the progress of the talented scholars who are wrapping up the second and final year of the program.

Read The TRIbune.

Through a partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Hendrix College students have a unique opportunity to address a critical human health issue in the new Clinical and Translational Research Immersion (CTRI) Program.

Andres Caro, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Hendrix, is leading the educational components of the program in collaboration with the UAMS-administered Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Arkansas INBRE) and the UAMS Translational Research Institute. It is supported by a $165,326 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The program began in the fall 2020 semester with three students interested in biomedical science careers; three additional students joined this semester, and three more will participate this summer. Caro noted that there are few opportunities for undergraduate students to conduct translational research, which includes human study participants. Translational research is the process of rapidly applying new knowledge and discoveries to deliver treatments or practices that improve health.

“Translational medicine is the future of therapy, and the CTRI Program will introduce Hendrix students to this cutting-edge field,” Caro said.
The program is providing the students with a team-based translational research experience as part of an ongoing opioid study that involves eight UAMS researchers.

Arkansas INBRE’s mission is to build biomedical research capacity across the state. Lawrence Cornett, Ph.D., director, said the CTRI program is a great addition to INBRE’s efforts.

Increasing the number of future researchers is also a focus of the Translational Research Institute.

“We’re excited to be part of this collaboration,” said Laura James, M.D., director of the institute. “It allows us a unique opportunity to teach the principles of translational research beyond UAMS. This is crucial to expanding the research education pipeline and developing future translational scientists.”

The project also enables the expansion of an ongoing study of neonatal opioid drug withdrawal, led by Clare Nesmith, M.D., an associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology. The addition of a second clinical site at the University of Louisville will allow investigators to better understand factors that predict the development of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome in newborns. Lori Devlin, D.O., an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal Medicine, and Janice Sullivan, M.D., a professor and vice chair for Pediatrics Research in the Department of Pediatrics, are leading the study at the University of Louisville site.

The Arkansas INBRE program involves most of the state’s universities and colleges working toward the same goal of encouraging interest in and supporting cutting-edge scientific research that, ultimately, benefits the state as a whole.

“Research experiences are widely recognized to benefit undergraduate students in a number of ways,” Caro said. “Students who conduct research are more likely to complete a baccalaureate degree, pursue additional training in either graduate school or professional school, and go on to a career in research.”

Arkansas INBRE is funded under the NIH Institutional Development Award Program, or IDeA. The UAMS-based Arkansas INBRE program manages the initiative for partners that include the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas State University, Hendrix College, Ouachita Baptist University, John Brown University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and others. Along with UAMS, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville participates as a research-intensive institution.

The Translational Research Institute is supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise including its hospital, regional clinics and clinics it operates or staffs in cooperation with other providers. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. U.S. News & World Report named UAMS Medical Center the state’s Best Hospital; ranked its ear, nose and throat program among the top 50 nationwide; and named six areas as high performing — COPD, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement and lung cancer surgery. UAMS has 2,876 students, 898 medical residents and four dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

The UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) Community Engagement Program has selected seven teams of community members and researchers that have partnered to participate in training and jointly develop community-based participatory research projects.

The Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Scholars teams will work through learning modules and participate in online discussions and mentoring to develop health disparities research projects in competition for pilot grants up to $50,000. The teams will learn to apply the principles of CBPR, a collaborative approach that works to involve all partners throughout the research process. Starting with a health-related research topic that is important to the community, the teams will use their new knowledge to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities.

“The CBPR Scholars program marks an exciting milestone for us,” said Kate Stewart, M.D., M.P.H., director of the TRI Community Engagement Program. “It is the next big step in our years-long efforts to engage Arkansans in the research we do at UAMS. We are very excited about the diversity of the seven partnerships that are participating in the program and we look forward to working with them to develop research-based, sustainable health improvements.”

The academic/community partnership teams are:

• Academic: Gerry Ezell, M.D., Jennifer Naylor, Ph.D.
  Community: River City Ministries: Paul Wilkerson and Steven Morris                                       
• Academic: Brooke Montgomery, Ph.D.
  Community: Our House: Maureen Martin
• Academic: Sanjay Maraboyina, M.D.,  Analiz Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., Cynthia Dillport, LCSW, and Harriet Farley, LCSW
  Community: Home for Healing: Ronnie Fehrenbach and Goodness Village: Janet Webb
• Academic: Eva Woodward, Ph.D., Jennifer Gan, and Irenia Ball
  Community: AR Freedom Fund: Rae Brown, Anthony Smith and Heather Brown
• Academic: Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., Katy Allison, Ph.D.
  Community: AR Foundation for Suicide Prevention: Susie Reece and Wendy Thompson
• Academic:  Wendy Nembhard, Ph.D.,  Katie Brown, O.D., Kirk Leach, Ph.D. (UALR), Jennifer Gan, Leah Dawson, Ph.D., Joe Schaffner, Maria Ruvalcaba
  Community: Shepherd’s Hope: Sofia Dulanto, Amy Ford (Baptist Health)
• Academic: Deanna King, M.D., Ph.D.,  Charia Hall, Au.D., Rachel Glade, Ph.D. (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville)
  Community: AR Hands and Voices: Mandy Jay, Liana Robbins

TRI announced today that four UAMS researchers have been awarded pilot grants of up to $50,000 each to help improve health services through the implementation of  evidence-based medical practices.

The awards are made to projects with the strongest likelihood of leading to improved health and health care.

Implementation science is the study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services.

The awardees are:

Emily Kocurek, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine; “Implementation of a UAMS Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) with Expansion to a Statewide Arkansas Pulmonary Embolism Response Tele-Network.”

Debopam Samanta, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine; Chief, Child Neurology (Interim), Arkansas Children’s Hospital and UAMS; “Qualitative Assessment of Stigma Experience and Self-Management of Epilepsy in the African-American Population and Implementation of an Adapted Booster Telehealth Intervention.”

Taren Swindle, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Research and Evaluation Division, and Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Nutrition, College of Medicine; Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, UAMS College of Public Health; “Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Virtual Approach to De-implementation of Inappropriate Feeding Practices in Early Care and Education”

Aravindhan Veerapandiyan, M.D., Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine; “Psychological Health in Children with Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy.” 

In this issue we highlight two COVID-19 research studies supported by NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) grants. Researchers at the UAMS Northwest Campus hope their grant can help prevent a repeat of last spring, when COVID-19 washed through local Marshallese and Latinx communities like a tsunami. Researchers at the UAMS College of Public Health are part of another RADx study that includes institutions from five states and focuses on individuals with a history of incarceration and low-income Latinx communities.

We also name our five new 2021 Implementation Science scholars and two awardees of mini-grants for underrepresented faculty researchers. Our Study of the Month features Ryan Dare, M.D., who is leading the Phase 3 Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV-1 IM) trial.  Read The TRIbune.