A Running Start
More than 38,000 participants registered for the 2004 Race for the Cure in Little Rock, and this year’s turnout is expected to be equally impressive. Among the crowd crossing the downtown bridges on Oct. 22 will be UAMS employees, many of whom have been touched by breast cancer personally or through the patients they serve.

The UAMS Race for the Cure team is led by team coordinator Beth Stewart, a volunteer donating her time to organize the university’s team. In 2003, UAMS had the race’s largest team with more than 1,400 participants.

A Sight to Behold
For the millions of people experiencing the vision problems associated with age, a newly designed implantable lens may provide a treatment alternative.

Dr. Nicola Kim, an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology of the UAMS College of Medicine, said the lens allows for clear vision of objects both near and far. They are a particularly good option for cataract patients and persons older than 40 who are considering LASIK surgery to correct their distance vision. 

The surgery is a short, outpatient procedure, does not require general anesthesia and is generally painless.

License to Drive
Since September 2003, Arkansans have had the chance to support the UAMS Arkansas Cancer Research Center and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation by purchasing a specialty license plate. According to the most recent figures available, there are 2,134 of the license plates in circulation.   The ACRC and the Komen Foundation have each received more than $38,000 from the sale of the plates. To find out more, call 603-1406 or visit www.uams.edu/licenseplate.

Blass Cancer Lab
A new laboratory at UAMS will focus on developing vaccines to attack cancer cells. The Elizabeth Weitzenhoffer Blass Cancer Vaccine Core was funded by Blass and her family foundation with a match from the settlement with the tobacco industry. The lab contains equipment essential for the development of cutting-edge therapies for cancer.  Blass is a founding member of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board and the Arkansas Cancer Research Center Foundation Fund Board. She chaired the drive to raise $7 million to build the first phase of the ACRC.

Home Away From Home
Many patients travel for miles to receive treatment at UAMS. For some, the UAMS Family Home provides safe, affordable housing during their stay. Located across from the hospital on West Markham Street, the home has limited space available for patients receiving long-term treatment at the UAMS Arkansas Cancer Research Center and for the parents of newborns in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. Residents must be referred by neonatal nurses or ACRC social workers and are admitted based on need.

A Good Night’s Rest
Snoring affects millions of people – and their sleep partners – every night. It also can be a symptom of sleep apnea, a serious health condition caused when an airway blockage triggers constant interruptions in sleep.

UAMS is the first hospital in Arkansas to offer the Pillar Procedure, a new, minimally invasive treatment for sleep apnea. The procedure places three inserts in the patient’s soft palate, causing the palate to stiffen. The stiffening helps to prevent or lessen blockages of the airway – effectively treating sleep apnea and substantially reducing the severity of snoring in most individuals. The Pillar Procedure is conducted in a single, short office setting and is reversible.

Anti-cancer Virus
Two decades of research conducted by UAMS researcher Dr. Paul Hermonat has led to the discovery of a common virus with the ability to inhibit cancer in humans. The virus – adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV-2) – could lead to new treatments, Hermonat said. Other viruses, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), promote the development of certain cancers. Hermonat is in the second year of a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to find the genes present in HPV that help replicate AAV-2 and to better understand the interactions between the two viruses.

International Recognition
A UAMS graduate student led a team of researchers in a study of antiviral defense mechanisms published in a recent edition of the international science journal Nature.

Courtney Wilkins, a student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the UAMS Graduate School, was the lead investigator in a project that first described a virus that would replicate and trigger a defense mechanism in a worm, creating a useful model for the study of host-virus interactions in mammals.
Dr. Robert McGehee, dean of the UAMS Graduate School, believes this is the first time a UAMS graduate student has been published in Nature.

Diabetes/Obesity Connection
Understanding the relationship between obesity and diabetes could lead to new treatments for diabetes – already the state’s sixth leading cause of death. Three UAMS researchers are leading the way in determining the link between obesity and diabetes thanks to $2.2 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health. 

The three collaborative grants were awarded to Dr. Philip Kern, professor of endocrinology in the UAMS College of Medicine; Dr. Robert E. McGehee, dean of the UAMS Graduate School; and Dr. Charlotte Peterson, professor of geriatrics, physiology and biophysics in the UAMS College of Medicine. 

Almost 8 percent of Arkansas’ population has diabetes and obesity is a main contributor to its development.