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Kim Light Retires With Legacy of Teaching, Research

For most of his entire life until his retirement in December from the College of Pharmacy, Kim Light, 66, Ph.D., has been steeped in pharmacy. Some may think it’s remarkable he never became a pharmacist himself, but maybe the windows had something to do with it.

“I grew up in my dad’s drug store,” Light said. “I started out at 6 years old, standing on pop cases and ringing up candy sales.”

Dean Olsen and Dr. Light — UAMS College of Pharmacy Dean, Dr. Keith Olsen, remarked on Dr. Kim Light’s achievements during a retirement reception held December 11 at the UAMS main campus.

His father’s pharmacy was in downtown Indianapolis, and he started out working on weekends watching the candy cases and making sure no children walked off with any sweets without paying for them.

“I moved up to learning how to wash windows every Saturday,” Light said. “I decided I didn’t like washing windows. Dad was a little particular about how they had to be washed. You couldn’t just use Windex and a rag. You had to use a squeegee, and NO streaks.”

Despite the menial chores, he did develop an interest in a key aspect of the business, the science of pharmacology. He went on to get his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Indiana University in Bloomington, and after a postdoctoral fellowship at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he accepted a position at UAMS in 1979, eventually becoming a professor in the College’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“There’s nothing better than teaching and seeing bright minds pick things up,” he said.

Since then, Light has taught courses on pharmacology, molecular biology and biotechnology, and chemical addiction.

Chemical addiction also has been a central subject in Light’s research career as well, particularly in regard to alcohol and pregnancy. Because fetal alcohol syndrome was only first described in 1973 as an effect on children caused by their mothers consuming alcohol while pregnant, it was still a new and largely undefined area of research when Light started exploring it.

“Most of my career was looking at fetal alcohol damage, trying to characterize it, relate it to alcohol exposure intensity,” he said.

Kim Light and Peer — Dr. Kim Light was congratulated by peers, students, and friends at the retirement reception.

Light started working on those various aspects, especially on alcohol exposure. Light and research collaborators moved pretty quickly into looking at fetal alcohol models, especially the impact of the mother drinking in the early part of the third trimester.

The third trimester is when the brain is making connections and building its wiring, Light said. Changes there might not be evident until preschool and early schooling and manifest itself in problems like dyslexia and behavioral control issues.

“We now know that between one and three out of every hundred live births are alcohol-impacted,” he said. “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the extreme expression of alcohol damage. Lesser effects also fall into what’s broadly known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.”

Light said it’s much easier to show the effects of binge drinking but harder to sort out the effects from low-level exposure compared to other factors. That’s why no specific exposure level has been deemed safe, and it is recommended pregnant mothers should refrain entirely from consumption of alcohol, he said.

Although 88,000 people in the United States who die annually from abusing alcohol surpasses opioid deaths, the percentage of funds dedicated to research into alcohol abuse is small, Light said. That’s led to teaching becoming a larger and larger part of his UAMS career. It’s also an aspect Light recently saw as nearing its end.

“I didn’t see myself hanging in there and continuing teaching.” Light said. “This is an area where approaches and energy level change and needs to change.”

Some family responsibilities in Indiana, a desire to see more of grandchildren with his son’s family in Oregon and a host of smaller factors led him to the conclusion that the timing was right.

“When I was new here, I knew what the right way was to do something. I was ready for the old guard to turn things over,” he said. “Now, I find myself unwittingly coming to the conclusion that I am not the one with the freshest ideas. I’m the one who needs to get out of the way. It’s time. I’m OK with that. I believe in the phases of life.”

Pharmacy Conference Keeps Pharmacists Up to Date

On a Sunday morning in a UAMS auditorium, John Kirtley, Pharm.D., engaged his audience in a brief call-and-response dialogue.

“How many hydrocodone pills were dispensed in Arkansas last year?” Kirtley asked. Scattered voices called out guesses.

Kirtley told them the total: It was 108 million, and another 49 million oxycodone pills also were dispensed in 2016 in Arkansas.

Those totals further translate into about 114.6 prescriptions per 100 people and an average number of 60-75 pills per prescription, he said.

Kirtley is the executive director of the Arkansas Board of Pharmacy and was one of several speakers who made presentations Dec. 9 at the Pharmacy Update at UAMS. More than 100 pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants and nurses attended the one-day conference, and presenters from all of these professions were among the speakers.

Kirtley completed his pre-pharmacy coursework at Ouachita Baptist University and graduated from UAMS with his doctor of pharmacy.

“With the opioid problem, we see today we know that we have 350 deaths a year in Arkansas,” Kirtley said. “Prescription drugs are the only things that are worth more money once they are in the illegal market. When you have people who steal drugs from pharmacies, it means massive profits for them, way more than pharmacists pay.”

That profit has served as an incentive for thefts and leaking prescription opiates into the illegal market.

“We keep trying to do a better job of helping people not lose drugs in their pharmacies,” Kirtley said. “We tell people how to keep an eye on it and give them loss prevention tools. You have to report losses to figure out what is missing.”

Opioids legally prescribed for legitimate uses by patients sometimes are taken by family members or friends in the home who then abuse them.

To stem the flow of prescription drugs into the illegal drug market, including opioid drugs, the Arkansas Board of Pharmacy along with several community partners in law enforcement and health care has organized drug takeback events in which consumers can dispose of unused or expired medications.

From January through October 2017, Take Back Day events across Arkansas have collected 28,035 pounds of prescription drugs, Kirtley said.

Kirtley recalled that at one recent central Arkansas Take Back event, a woman walked up with a 13-gallon trash bag full of medications. Right on her heels was a second woman with the same-size bulging with pill bottles.

“We have the number two prescription rate for opioids in the country,” he said. “We’re right behind Alabama.”

Kirtley also briefed pharmacists and others in the audience about recent state legislative and regulatory changes that affect pharmacy practice, ranging from Act 139, which allows the Board of Pharmacy and other state regulatory boards to look into sealed court records when doing background checks for licensure, to new rules governing emergency prescriptions.

Other speakers at the Pharmacy Update presented information about immunizations, medical marijuana, medication safety, pain assessment, medications like Naloxone to counteract opiate overdoses and over prescribing.

Read full article in UAMS Newsroom >

‘Glass Class’ in Helena Has Offered CE Opportunity for More than a Decade

Each year for the last 11 years, pharmacists have gathered on an autumn weekend in Helena to learn something new about their profession as part of a Continuing Education class. For Becky Hall, Ed.D., the class stirs memories of her father, Gerald Glass, Pharm.D.

For more than 50 years in nearby Marvel, Glass ran a pharmacy. He persuaded the UAMS College of Pharmacy to start offering some continuing education classes for pharmacists in the Delta region. After his passing, Hall, her mother, the Helena Health Foundation and members of the community raised $40,000 to establish a small endowment fund to support the Gerald Glass Continuing Education Program’s class.

“Daddy would be tickled,” Hall said. “He’s probably watching from Heaven. We’ve gotten good feedback from pharmacists. We have pharmacists who come from all over, really, because they need the credits, and they like it. It’s easy for some of them to come here from all up and down the Delta.”

Hall is also director the UAMS East Regional Campus in Helena.

Physicians, nurses and health educators are now welcome to attend the class as well.

On a Saturday in late October, Megan Smith, Pharm.D., was one of two featured speakers for the ‘Glass Class’ in Helena. Despite the long drive, Smith welcomed the opportunity to speak to the group of about 20 in attendance.

“For me, it was really nice to expand my presentation to an hour or more, answer more questions and put more depth into explaining what we are doing,” Smith said. “They had great feedback and questions. They were really engaged. My compliments to the organizers, they did a good job of picking topics that go together and showcased the newest things coming down the road.”

Smith discussed the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network she helps to facilitate. Lauren Glaze, Pharm.D., who teaches at the UAMS South Regional Campus in Magnolia, spoke about what she is doing with primary practice there. Both Smith and Glaze are assistant professors in the UAMS College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy Practice.

Smith gave the example of a community pharmacist in Iowa who challenged Iowa’s Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield to measure his patient outcomes. The pharmacist had started playing a more active role in making sure his patients/customers were taking their medications properly and were achieving their health care goals. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield was surprised to learn he was saving an average of $300 per member per month in cost of care. Those results prompted the formation of an enhanced service network for Iowa.

Smith helped to establish just such a network in Arkansas in March. The goal of the pharmacy network is to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes related to the best medication use and utilization of health care resources leading to a reduction in the total cost of care for that patient. It also can involve pharmacists providing important health screenings and monitoring a patient’s health.

Sometimes that can entail higher drug costs and increased visits to a primary care physician, but it should mean fewer Emergency Department visits, hospitalizations, and preventable readmissions, Smith said.

To do that, a network member pharmacy has to agree to provide a level of service to patients above and beyond traditional dispensing services. Recently, Smith surveyed the members.

“Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that everybody was providing all of these services consistently,” Smith said. “It wasn’t just done one time. They were well sustained with a good base number of patients. They’ve really built their work flow around it.”

She said two of the pharmacists at the Helena class had heard about the network, but the remainder hadn’t. The class gave her the opportunity to spread the word farther, she said, and it was an experience as a presenter she wouldn’t mind repeating.

UAMS Northwest Regional Campus Marks 10 Years of Academic Medicine

Nov. 17, 2017 | Celebrating 10 years as northwest Arkansas’ home to academic medicine, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Northwest Regional Campus hosted community leaders, friends, faculty and staff today for a timeline unveiling and open house.

“We are happy to host the community on campus today to celebrate how far we’ve come with the Northwest Regional Campus in the last 10 years,” said Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., M.B.A, associate vice chancellor of the Northwest Regional Campus. “It’s a great opportunity for reflection on the past and to look forward to a future of continued partnerships that will advance academic medicine in northwest Arkansas.”

About 150 members of the public joined McElfish, community leaders, former faculty and other campus leadership in the lobby of the Fayetteville building for the event.

“A lot of you in the audience today – from both on campus and off – played a key role in making this a success,” McElfish said. “Your hard work and collaborative spirit have been vital. As we grow, we look forward to that continued support.”

The timeline is located in the Fayetteville building, near the Regional Campus Conference Room. It starts in 2007 and includes key dates in campus history extending to the present day.

Campus History

In 2007, UAMS made a commitment to academic medicine in northwest Arkansas with the introduction of a regional campus. Peter O. Kohler, M.D., distinguished professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, was named vice chancellor and set about building an interprofessional medical education opportunity that also supports the community through research and clinical services.

“We worked hard to get the funding from the state to get started and worked with the county to secure the building,” said Kohler. “It was a big win for us, for the county and the region. We’ve come a long way in that time.”

The UAMS College of Pharmacy appointed Eric Schneider, Pharm.D., associate dean of the Northwest Regional Campus in 2009. Six third-year medical students came to campus that summer, starting their time on campus with a wall-breaking ceremony to acknowledge the major renovations to come. They graduated in May 2011.

Chris Smith, M.D., was appointed the first regional dean for the College of Medicine that year. The College of Pharmacy also welcomed its first class of third-year students in 2011. The Northwest Regional Campus housed 107 students and 30 postgraduate medical residents at that time.

“The region’s growth really started to take off and lots of amazing things were happening,” said Kohler. “Health care has been coming more into focus as the population rapidly expands.”

In 2012, Bill Buron, Ph.D., R.N.C., was appointed the first assistant dean for the UAMS College of Nursing in the northwest region. The Pat and Willard Walker Student Clinical Education Center, where students simulate patient interactions, opened in 2013.

In 2014, there was a flurry of activity. John Jefferson, Ph.D., began as inaugural director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, which was championed by area leaders. The Northwest Regional Campus is the sole home of the UAMS Physical Therapy program. The Outpatient Therapy Clinic, offering physical, occupational and speech therapy services to the public, opened in the fall.

The North Street Clinic opened in late 2014, offering diabetes care to the local Marshallese community. Marshallese have some of the highest rates of diabetes in the world. Almost 200 students have worked in the clinic, learning about effective culturally appropriate patient care.

The first internal medicine residents came to campus in 2015, bringing future medical professionals specializing in comprehensive adult primary care to the area. Inaugural doctor of physical therapy students arrived on campus that year as well. In late 2015, McElfish and Nia Aitaoto, Ph.D., M.P.H., founded the Center for Pacific Islander Health on campus to focus on health studies within the underrepresented population. It is the first in the continental United States to do so. McElfish and Aitaoto are both assistant professors of internal medicine in the College of Medicine.

Sheldon Riklon, M.D., associate professor of family and preventive medicine in the College of Medicine, one of two practicing Marshallese physicians in the country, joined the staff and was invested as the first Peter O. Kohler, M.D., Distinguished Professorship in Health Disparities in 2016. At the end of that year, McElfish was appointed associate vice chancellor of the Northwest Regional Campus, succeeding Kohler.

The Future

“As Dr. Kohler said, we have come a long way since those early days,” said McElfish, who succeeded Kohler as associate vice chancellor upon his retirement at the end of 2016. “We have graduated 336, we opened the student-led North Street Clinic, and we launched the Department of Physical Therapy.”

According to the Northwest Arkansas Council, 27 people have moved to the region each day since 2010.

“We are uniquely poised to advance northwest Arkansas through community-based health care and by developing the next generation of leaders in the field,” said McElfish.

Read full article in UAMS Newsroom >

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy seeks applications for two tenure track positions in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at any academic rank, commensurate with background and experience.

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences has approximately 30 full-time faculty members, 10 research faculty, 25 post docs and research staff, and 20 graduate students, and is in a state of rapid growth and advancement. Candidates should have research credentials in the general area of Drug Discovery and Development, and should have experience in one or more of the following areas: medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, radiation health or computational science. Preferred areas of interest include, but are not limited to, cancer, radioprotection, neuropathology, and cardiovascular disease. Responsibilities will also include a commitment to innovative teaching and mentoring at the professional, graduate and postdoctoral level. The Department maintains a strong commitment to professional education by delivering approximately half of the didactic professional curriculum and has an active graduate program in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The positions are full-time, 12-month appointments. Applicants must possess a terminal degree in pharmacy, chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, biochemistry or other related fields, have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, have established an independent research program, and demonstrated leadership through national recognition in their research area. Externally funding is preferred but not an absolute requirements. The ideal candidate should possess a working knowledge of academic pharmacy. Collaborative research opportunities for faculty members exist within several prominent research centers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, including the Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Translational Research Institute, the Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute and the Reynolds Center for Aging. Research is also supported by various research and service centers/cores, including Biomedical Mass Spectroscopy, Cyclotron and Radiochemistry labs, Magnetic Resonance and PET Imaging and Spectroscopy, the Biostatistics Consulting Unit, and the Department of Lab Animal Medicine. Excellent opportunities also exist for entrepreneurial activities in the nearby Bioventures campus incubator facility.

Salary will be competitive and commensurate with education and experience, and a generous start-up package will be available. Candidates for this position must be able to meet eligibility requirements for work in the United States at the time the appointment begins and be able to communicate effectively in English.

UAMS is an academic health science campus located in Little Rock that consists of six academic units. As one of the largest public employers in the state, UAMS employs approximately 10,500. The campus consists of six institutes, University Hospital, the Central Arkansas Veterans Administration Medical Center, eight Area Health Education Centers around the state, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The College of Pharmacy has approximately 70 full-time faculty members, 400 volunteer faculty, and 480 Pharm.D. students.

Little Rock, Arkansas offers a unique professional and living environment and is located approximately 120 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, 250 miles northeast of Dallas, Texas, and 350 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri. The Little Rock – North Little Rock communities consist of approximately 500,000 people and offer a high quality of life with a modest cost of living, excellent schools, and recreational opportunities.

To assure full consideration, applications must include curriculum vitae, letter of interest providing a summary of qualifications for the position, and three letters of reference. Applications will be sought until the position is filled. Applications and nominations should be submitted to Dr. Peter A. Crooks, Chairman, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UAMS College of Pharmacy, 4301 West Markham Street, #522, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205. Applicants may contact Dr. Crooks at PACrooks@uams.edu or 501- 686-6495.

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