February 2014

NEA Baptist Cancer Center to Receive Largest Donation in Baptist Foundation HistoryWallace and Jama Fowler of Jonesboro recently made the largest donation in Baptist Memorial Health Care’s 101-year history. The gift made to the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation will be used to create the Fowler Family Patient Assistance Endowment. This fund will expand and enhance support services for cancer patients and their families. In their honor, the NEA Baptist Cancer Center will be named the Fowler Family Center for Cancer Care.The only facility of its kind in Northeast Arkansas, the 34,000 square foot Fowler Family Center for Cancer Care combines all components of cancer care under one roof, from diagnostics to chemotherapy treatments to support and educational resources.  The center will offer 22 chemotherapy infusion suites, designed to help ensure that patients can maintain fellowship  with other  patients  as well as retain personal space; a new HopeCircle program area, prominently featured off the main entrance, with group meeting and private consultation rooms; close patient parking; nature-influenced décor with floral space dividers and sky mosaics in radiation suites; a waiting room with seating for 75; and a private garden for patient enjoyment and private reflectionThe Baptist Foundation began actively seeking philanthropic support in 1994 and since then has raised nearly $100 million in addition to awarding nearly $60 million in grants for Baptist hospitals and programs throughout the region. The Fowler’s gift is part of NEA Baptist’s first fundraising campaign.NEA Baptist is transitioning to the NEA Baptist Health Care System. The new system will be located on a 76-acre, fully integrated medical campus that will include a new NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital Building, new headquarters for the new NEA Baptist Clinic and the Fowler Family Center for Cancer Care. Construction of the new facilities began in April 2011 and will be complete early next year.The new system follows the Mayo Clinic model of a side-by-side clinic hospital campus.  The new hospital is a six- story structure with 181 beds and expansion space for an additional 300 beds.  The clinic consists of two multispecialty physician structures. The new campus is a $400 million investment in Jonesboro and the surrounding counties, one of the largest health care investments ever made in Arkansas.Semmes-Murphey Opens Neck & Back Care ClinicSemmes-Murphey Clinic has opened an easily accessible clinic at the 6325 Humphreys Blvd. location. The new clinic exists to evaluate and appropriately diagnose patients for the chief complaint of neck and back issues (particularly related to pain/dysfunction) and recommend therapeutic interventions. The clinic is staffed in a multi-disciplinary fashion including nurse practitioners/physician assistants, physiatry/pain management, neurosurgery and physical therapy. The clinic will provide timely diagnosis and a treatment plan, but is not a replacement site for chronic pain management and medication administration.The initial team of physicians overseeing the Neck & Back Care Clinic includes Dr. Clarence Watridge, Dr. Manuel Carro, Dr Autry Parker, and Dr. Samuel Polk.UT Medical Group Adds Interventional CardiologistInterventional cardiologist Dr. Nadish Garg has joined the department of medicine at UT Medical Group, Inc. and been named assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Garg earned his medical degree at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in India. He completed internal medicine residency and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Missouri, followed by an advanced fellowship in cardiac imaging at Methodist Hospital in Houston. Most recently, he attended the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where he completed additional training in interventional cardiology. Garg is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine Subspecialty Board of Cardiovascular Disease, the National Board of Echocardiography, and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He is a specialist in coronary and peripheral vascular interventions, cardiovascular imaging, heart failure and heart valve replacement, nuclear cardiology, cardiac CT, and echocardiography.Campbell Foundation Elects Two New Trustees  The Campbell Foundation has announced the election of two new members to its board of trustees: Connie Lewis Lensing, J.D.,  and David D. Spence, M.D.Connie Lewis Lensing, J.D. is Senior Vice President in the Legal Department at FedEx Express, the world’s largest express transportation company. She heads a department with offices in Memphis, TN and Orange County, CA, which is comprised of lawyers and professionals who handle all domestic employment matters and litigation defense and prevention.  She currently sits on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, and she sits on the Board of Directors for Lawyers for Civil Justice. She was Co-chair of the National Civil Rights Museum’s Twentieth Anniversary Freedom Awards and is a current Board Member.  David D. Spence, M.D.  joined the Campbell Clinic staff as a Pediatric orthopaedic surgeon in 2012. Spence completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery from Campbell Foundation in 2011, and a fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics at Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School in 2012. Spence has conducted significant research in the field and has published several journal articles. He serves as a Clinical Instructor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the University of Tennessee -Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.The Campbell Foundation was established in 1946 by the physicians of Campbell Clinic to support the advancement of musculoskeletal research, physician education, and community health.UT Medical Group Family Medicine Grows East Memphis StaffUT Medical Group’s Department of Family Medicine office in east Memphis recently welcomed two new medical staff members who have a special interest in women’s health.Dr. Carley Fox earned her medical degree at Albany Medical College in New York and completed family medicine residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where she is now an assistant professor. Fox is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.  Dr. Katosha Muse completed her medical degree at Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica, West Indies, followed by family medicine residency at the UT Health Science Center. She is currently an instructor of family medicine at the UT Health Science Center and is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.  UTHSC Assistant Professor Zhaohui Wu Receives $720,000 GrantAccording to experts, breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Among breast cancer patients, those diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive breast cancer subtype, have a lower survival rate, in part because there is a lack of effective targeted therapy.Chemotherapy is the only available systemic treatment for TNBC. However, many TNBC patients rapidly develop resistance to the treatments. They also develop aggressive metastasis, which is responsible for the majority of the deaths caused by the cancer. Zhaohui Wu, MD, PhD, is exploring other options that could lead to a breakthrough in treatment.Dr. Wu, an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), is now being supported by a Research Scholar Grant, RSG-13-186-01-CSM, from the American Cancer Society. The four-year grant, which totals $720,000, will fund his study titled “Role of Genotoxic NF-kB Activation in Breast Cancer Metastasis.”Previous studies conducted by Dr. Wu and his research team have indicated that the activation of a transcription factor or protein known as NF-kB by chemotherapeutic drugs may promote cancer therapy resistance and metastasis. His team is working to determine the factors responsible for that resistance. The research team is also exploring therapeutic regimens to effectively restore sensitivity of the breast cancer cells to chemotherapies and reduce secondary tumors.Timothy Fabian, MD, Professor and Chair of Surgery at UTHSC to Step DownDavid Stern, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has announced that Timothy C. Fabian, MD, professor and chair of the UTHSC Department of Surgery, will step down from his position as chair once his successor has been named. Dr. Fabian has been chair of Surgery at UTHSC for more than 14 years. After he steps down as chair, Dr. Fabian will continue to serve as a professor in the department, fulfilling his ongoing academic role to train future generations of surgeons.A national search will begin immediately to locate highly qualified candidates who are interested in the UTHSC chair of Surgery position. The search committee is being co-chaired by Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, division chief of Hematology at UTHSC, and Medical Director, the West Cancer Center, and Sandeep Samant, MD, professor and vice chair in the UTHSC Department of Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery), and division chief for Head and Neck Surgery. An external search firm that specializes in health care leadership will assist the committee.Methodist Administrative Director Receives AwardChris Jenkins, administrative director, University of Tennessee Methodist Physicians, recently received the early career healthcare executive award from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) during the Tennessee Hospital Association’s (THA) 75th annual meeting. The award recognized Jenkins’ commitment to ACHE.Most recenlty, Jenkins rejoined the Methodist family, serving first as administrator of the Cardiovascular Institute at Methodist University Hospital before being named administrator of Clinical Operations at Methodist University Hospital. Jenkins completed his bachelor’s degree in Business and Communications at the University of Montana and earned his master’s in Health Administration from the University of Memphis. He holds the level of fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Memphis. He is a board member of The First Tee, American Cancer Society, and Alzheimer’s Association.Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, Presents at San Antonio Breast Cancer SymposiumThe West Clinic is pleased to announce that Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, Medical Director, presented several abstracts during sessions at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium being held in San Antonio, Texas in December.  The international scientific symposium offers exchange and interaction among basic scientists and clinicians in breast cancer. As innovative strides are being made in breast cancer research, the annual symposium is the foremost gathering of scientists, physicians and health care professionals dedicated to eradicating breast cancer.Presentations included: PD3-Phase 1 - A phase 1 open-label, dose-escalation study evaluating the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of enzalutamide (previously MDV3100) alone or in combination with an aromatase inhibitor in women with advanced breast cancerS1-03 - S1-03. Primary results from BETH, a phase 3 controlled study of adjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab ± bevacizumab in patients with HER2-positive, node-positive or high risk node-negative breast cancerP3-13-05 -  Eribulin mesylate as first-line therapy for locally recurrent or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer: Results of a phase 2, multicenter, single-arm studyOT 3-2-08 - A phase 2 single-arm study of the clinical activity and safety of enzalutamide in patients with advanced androgen receptor-positive triple-negative breast cancerP4-12-12 - Phase 2, multicenter, single-arm study of eribulin mesylate + trastuzumab as first-line therapy for locally recurrent or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancerPaul Bourassa Joins Unity Hospice CarePaul N. Bourassa has joined Unity Hospice Care as Director of Corporate Compliance. In this role Bourassa is responsible for compliance programs involving HIPAA, OSHA, OIG, and CMS as well as other Federal, State and local regulatory agencies.  Unity Hospice Care serves patients in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas.Kosten Foundation Awards Two GrantsThe Memphis-based Herb Kosten Pancreatic Cancer Research Charitable Fund announced it will award two research grants for 2014, one to the University of Nebraska and the other to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). The announcement was made by Alan Kosten, Chairman of the Herb Kosten Pancreatic Cancer Research Foundation and brother of Herb Kosten, for whom the foundation was named.A major portion of the funding for the grants awarded each year come from the proceeds  of KICK IT 5K.  This year’s KICK IT 5K is scheduled for  2 pm Sunday, March 23 at Shelby Farms Park.  Please visit www.kickit5k.racesonline.com to register.  This year’s event  is dedicated to the memory of former Executive Director, Yvonne Ressel, who died from pancreatic cancer on October 9, 2013.  All of the Kosten Foundation’s continuing efforts to find a cure for pancreatic cancer and to provide support for the individuals and families, who are touched by this disease are devoted in Yvonne’s memory.  Those wanting additional information about the Kosten Foundation are invited to visit www.kostenfoundation.com.  Kosten said the grant to Nebraska will benefit the laboratory of Dr. Ram Mahato for his continuing pancreatic cancer research.