NOV. 10, 2004 | Instead of receiving gifts, philanthropists Howard and Elsie Stebbins celebrated his 94^th birthday on Oct. 22 by giving a present to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) – the Mehta/Stebbins Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Research.

Jay Mehta, M.D., Ph.D., and his wife, Paulette Mehta, M.D., both professors in the UAMS College of Medicine, joined the celebration on their 27^th wedding anniversary to continue a legacy that started when Jay Mehta was named the first holder of The Howard and Elsie Stebbins Chair in Cardiology in 2000.

The inaugural chair was invested upon Paul L. Hermonat, Ph.D., professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiovascular medicine and in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the UAMS College of Medicine. He is also director of the Gene Therapy Program. He is known internationally for his research on the genetic structure of the human adeno-associated virus (AAV) and the human papillomavirus (HPV) and their ties with certain types of cancer.

“Today is the beginning of a glorious journey in Little Rock,” Mehta said as he addressed the crowd at the investiture. He explained that since he came to UAMS, he has wanted to create a gene therapy program. “Dr. Paul Hermonat is the right person to be the first holder of this chair. He holds several patents on the delivery of genes and has a great understanding of the problems affecting the heart and blood vessels.”

“Gene therapy is a novel approach to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. It is still in its infancy, but once we understand how to deliver this mode of therapy, we should be able to alter genes – block the bad ones and enhance the good ones – once and for all in a given individual,” Mehta said. “This chair reflects the commitment of UAMS towards establishing the Gene Therapy Program. I hope this chair will allow a new thinking in the treatment of diseases to evolve at UAMS.”

Hermonat reiterated Mehta’s remarks, explaining that while scientists have sequenced the human genome, they only understand perhaps 5 percent of the information. He said that medicine could soon undergo a “DNA revolution” where it would be commonplace to reintroduce genes into the body using viruses. The discoveries made through the Gene Therapy Program at UAMS will be “important to medicine, but also important to Arkansas” as the program could bring much-needed jobs into the state.

Hermonat obtained his Ph.D. in medical microbiology and immunology from the University of Florida, where he received the University of Florida Medical Guild Graduate Research Award in 1984.  Dr. Hermonat completed his training at the National Institutes of Health before joining the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

In August 1990 Hermonat joined the UAMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology as assistant professor, rising to the rank of professor in 2001.  In March 2003 he joined the division of cardiovascular medicine as director of the Gene Therapy Program.

Hermonat has mapped the genes within AAV, determined their function, devised the first strategy for generating recombinant AAV virus, and was the first to transfer genes (gene therapy) by AAV into cell lines and primary cells. Using AAV, he has published on generating cytotoxic T lymphocytes – cells that destroy other cells – against cervical cancer, multiple myeloma and breast cancer.

Hermonat has also shown that HPV, previously thought limited to only the skin, is capable of replicating in the outer layer of embryos and cells within the breast ducts and is associated with both spontaneous abortions and breast cancers.  He is the world leader in studying HPV-AAV interaction, which regulates the risk of cervical cancer, one of the most prevalent cancers in the world.  As principal investigator, his extramural research funding has topped $3.5 million while at UAMS and he has published more than 90 papers.

Howard and Elsie Stebbins have spent a lifetime supporting charitable causes in the community, state and nation and have contributed to many programs at UAMS. In 1995, the untimely death of their eldest son, Albert Howard Stebbins IV, from cardiovascular disease, inspired them to present to UAMS the Stebbins Endowed Chair of Cardiology.

“Elsie and I promptly funded our first chair, which would not only help others, but remember our son Howard in perpetuity.”

Howard Stebbins described UAMS as “a mighty institution. Not only a value to the people of our native state, but actually to the world.”

Stebbins said he owes his present well being “to the advice and administrations over the years at UAMS. “ He added that he has not only experienced a great deal of talent in every UAMS department but has been treated courteously by everyone, including the bus drivers.

“We want this institution to continue in its present fine state,” he said of the endowment.

Jay and Paulette Mehta came to Arkansas in 2000, when Jay Mehta was recruited to serve as the Stebbins Endowed Chair in Cardiology. He is currently professor of internal medicine and physiology/biophysics in the UAMS College of Medicine, associate chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine and section chief of cardiology at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Paulette Mehta is professor of internal medicine and pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine, associate director of the UAMS Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program and director of the clinical program at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. 

The tradition of establishing endowed chairs at universities is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed upon distinguished faculty of an academic institution and the practice is steeped in history. The first named chair was established in England in 1502, when Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Earl of Richmond (by then Henry VII) donated the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity to Cambridge.

Today, almost five centuries later, her gift still supports a continuous line of distinguished scholars – the Margaret Professors. English settlers introduced the practice to America. The first endowed chair in America was established at Harvard University 50 years before the American Revolution. That institution now has more than 200 chairs.

A single gift or a group of designated gifts totaling $1 million or more creates an endowed chair at UAMS.