100-Year-Old Walks After Knee Replacement

A 100-year-old Denver woman was walking again the same day after total knee replacement surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) this week.

Thelma Vette said she traveled the 800 miles to UAMS because of the reputation of knee and hip replacement joint specialist Richard Evans, M.D., who had a private practice in Denver until 2005.

Evans is a pioneer in the minimally invasive technique that made it possible to even consider joint replacement surgery for someone at such an advanced age.

Vette also is healthier than the average 100-year-old, Evans said.

“Mrs. Vette is remarkable; her physical condition is more like that of a 70-year-old,” Evans said. “The only thing that kept her from walking before surgery was a badly deformed knee caused by arthritis.”

However, Evans consulted with Vette’s physicians in Denver before deciding to perform the surgery on her right knee.

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Thelma Vette, shares a laugh with her physical therapist, Nilma Hearn, as she recovers from knee replacement surgery.

Kern Earns Prestigious NIH Funding

Philip Kern, M.D., a nationally known obesity researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received a highly selective MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), funding his research into the chemical mechanisms of fat cells with up to $2.79 million over 10 years.

Only a small percentage of grant applicants receive the Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award, intended to recognize long-term research success with stable funding. Kern, a professor of endocrinology in the UAMS College of Medicine and associate chief of staff for research in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS), is just the second UAMS researcher to receive a MERIT Award.

The NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) selected Kern for the award when he sought renewal of a long-standing grant for studying an enzyme in fat tissue responsible for removing fat from the blood. Kern received a five-year grant worth about $225,000 per year, with the MERIT Award providing an expedited renewal for up to five additional years, for a total of $2.79 million.

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