LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) announces the addition of Brendan Stack, M.D., and Paul Spring, M.D., M.S., to its Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

“By adding the expertise of Dr. Spring and Dr. Stack, the ACRC will expand its research capabilities and clinical care in the area of head and neck cancer. We are delighted that these two talented physicians have joined our team and look forward to their contributions in the months and years to come,” said Dr. James Y. Suen, M.D., ACRC director.

Stack, who holds the James Y. Suen, M.D., endowed chair, directs the Divisions of Head and Neck Oncology and Clinical Research, while Spring serves as associate professor and director of basic research, both in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

The doctors share an interest in thyroid cancer research and will combine their skills to expand the university’s knowledge base and research capabilities in that area. While Stack’s research focuses on the use of proteonomics for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid cancer, Spring’s research looks at the use of inhibitors of multidrug resistance proteins in combination with chemotherapy and radiation in order to target locoregional and distant disease.

Stack’s other areas of interest lie in the use of metaloproteins in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer and the use of PET scans for staging and surveillance of head and neck cancer. For eight years, Stack has co-developed the design of a handheld PET detector for use during surgery. The project is funded through the Small Business Innovation Research Program of the National Institutes of Health and is about two to three years from completion, Stack said.

In addition to anaplastic thyroid cancer, Spring’s primary research interest also centers on head and neck cancer. “These two areas are somewhat overlapping by design,” Spring said. His work in this area involves developing a more effective means of treatment through the use of low dose radiation and chemotherapy.

After serving as a full-time missionary in Argentina for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Stack graduated with honors from the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., in 1989. He completed his residency at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., followed by a fellowship in head and neck oncology and reconstruction at the University of Washington in Seattle.

While in Seattle, Stack also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, served as instructor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and was on the medical staff of the Seattle Veteran’s Administration Medical Center.

Beginning in 1997, Stack served as assistant professor of otolaryngology at Saint Louis University. He then moved to the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Penn., and served as associate professor and director of head and neck oncology and director of research in the Division of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. He was promoted to full professor with tenure at Penn State before coming to UAMS.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Spring received his master’s degree in neuropathology and medical degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. He then completed a two-year head and neck surgery fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Prior to his employment at UAMS, Spring was an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, Ky., and chief of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Lexington.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,320 students and 690 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.3 billion a year.

UAMS centers of excellence are the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.