It is with upmost respect that I nominate Suzanne Holland as a 2012 UAMS Phenomenal Woman. 

Suzanne is a long time UAMS employee and is now the Associate Administrator for the Department of Internal Medicine.  Suzanne has overcome and continues to fight ovarian cancer.  She was initially diagnosed about five years ago and with surgery and chemotherapy, managed to achieve remission. Unfortunately, the cancer relapsed about a year and half ago which required additional surgery and Suzanne is still undergoing chemotherapy. During all of this, Suzanne has remained an integral part of the department and goes above and beyond the call of duty as she continues to achieve departmental goals.

Suzanne is also the Treasurer and a Board member of the Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition. She, along with two other members, has grown the organization from a task force within the Arkansas Cancer Coalition to an independent non-profit organization. The Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition's goal is to continue to raise awareness of the disease and promote education and early detection. The organization has developed informational brochures for physician's offices, completed educational events in AHEC centers; community health fairs as well as other venues, and has recently developed a survivor's kit for newly diagnosed patients.

Suzanne is truly an inspiration to be around and is always upbeat with a positive attitude despite all of the challenges she has had to overcome. She demonstrates the UAMS core values daily through the integrity of her actions, her respect and commitment to others, the excellence in her work, and through her teamwork she strives to develop partnerships across our organization and community to better meet the needs of our employees, patients and ovarian cancer survivors.

Submitted by:  Brian S. Barnett