All posts by Christopher Boyce

Hall Family Foundation Awards $15 Million to UMKC for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building

-PRN, ,

The University of Missouri-Kansas City announced a $15 million gift from the Hall Family Foundation, which will help fund an innovative new medical and dentistry building in the UMKC Health Sciences District.

The university has secured $95 million toward the $120 million cost of a new Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building on the corner of 25th and Charlotte.

The new building will enable UMKC to provide leading-edge health care education, attract top students and researchers and advance care for disinvested populations. In addition, the project will serve as a catalyst for developing the UMKC Health Sciences District into a major regional academic medical center that can generate billions of dollars in jobs and economic impact for the Kansas City region.

The new multi-story building will house dental teaching clinics and expanded medical school teaching facilities. In addition, it will provide space for the UMKC Health Equity Institute, the university’s Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and its new Biomedical Engineering program.

“We are grateful to the Hall Family Foundation for its investment in our students and the Kansas City community,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D. “The Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building will further solidify the UMKC Health Sciences District as a national leader in medical education and health care as well as support our mission of increasing health equity in the Kansas City region and beyond.”

U.S. News and World Report listed the UMKC School of Medicine as one of the top medical schools in the nation for primary care and it was the highest-ranked in Missouri in 2023. Its graduates practice in 71 counties in the state and its students and faculty members provide thousands of hours of free health screenings and services each year. The new building will provide advanced technology to enhance physician training and provide more doctors to meet a critical need of providers in the region. It will also house the new Biomedical Engineering program, providing proximity with doctors and engineers to support the innovation of new medical technologies.

The UMKC School of Dentistry is the only public dental school in the state of Missouri and is a major low-cost provider of dental care in the region. UMKC dentistry students serve more than 13,500 community members each year and provided more than $630,000 annually in free dental care to community members at its clinics from 2016-2022. The new building will allow UMKC to see more patients and update the technology at the clinics to streamline care and create more efficient visits for patients and provide industry-leading education to students. In addition, the new space will increase ADA accessibility for patients with physical limitations.

Furthermore, the building will house major community outreach and research initiatives, such as the UMKC Health Equity Institute, designed to identify and address health disparities, and the Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center, which supports innovation in personalized healthcare.

“The Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building will provide immeasurable benefit to the Kansas City community for generations to come, and we are proud to support it,” said Mayra Aguirre, president of the Hall Family Foundation. “Our Foundation’s mission is to support and fund projects that enhance the quality of human life for all Kansas Citians. This new building will enable UMKC to expand its important work in equitable and inclusive health care delivery and we are inspired by the collaboration between UMKC, Children’s Mercy Hospital and University Health that improves the lives of people in our community.”

The latest gift to UMKC is not the first investment the Hall Family Foundation has made in the UMKC Health Sciences District. In 2018, the organization provided $75 million in funding for the Children’s Mercy Research Institute dedicated to pediatric medical research.

Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation in July from the state of Missouri that appropriated $40 million for the UMKC Health Innovation and Delivery Building, contingent on a funding match. Since then, UMKC has received $30 million from the Sunderland Foundation, $15 million from the Hall Family Foundation, and $10 million in federal funding secured by Sen. Roy Blunt for a total of $95 million to date.

“UMKC is a leader in the Kansas City community and that is thanks, in large part, to the support of our partners. We are thankful they share in our vision of creating a cutting-edge healthcare hub that will provide state-of-the-art care to everyone in our community,” said Amanda Davis, chief advancement officer and president of the UMKC Foundation.

Formed in 2017, the UMKC Health Sciences District is a partnership among UMKC and 12 neighboring healthcare institutions. The district houses the UMKC schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Health Studies and Pharmacy in a single, walkable campus, allowing for greater interprofessional training and research collaboration.

Learn more about the Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building.

The High Priest of Sound

-PRN, Research, SurgiLab,

Paul Rudy has always been fascinated with sound. He’s ridden the sound waves to many impressive achievements as a composer, performer, Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Fellow, artist and sound healer. He’s currently the Curator’s Distinguished Professor, but his path to UMKC and the honorary title “High Priest of Sound” was as winding as the labyrinth he created on his Kansas farm.

“I understood the power of sound when I was a kid,” Rudy recalled. “My sister was watching a horror movie, and I was behind the couch playing. I heard this sound, and I stood up and started watching. It totally sucked me in. That movie scared the crap out of me! But I knew it was that sounds that drew me in.”

Rudy’s fascination with sound continued into his college career, even when he thought it wouldn’t.

“I did a jazz trumpet degree at Bethel College in Newton, then I quit music altogether and became a mountain climber and carpenter for four or five years,” he said. “That wasn’t stimulating my brain enough, though. I’ve been chasing my tail my whole life.”

The chase would bring him back to music in the late 80’s, when he joined a composition class at Wichita State University. It was there that he composed a piece of music his instructor described as graduate work. Invigorated by this taste of success, he applied for a music composition program at the University of Colorado and earned an assistantship in the program.

“I discovered the studio, and I fell in love with actually making and sculpting sound,” Rudy reminisced. “That’s why I went the electronic route.”

“Paul is a scientist.When I think of people in the Conservatory, I think of creators, musicians and artists, but I never think of science. And yet, Paul’s brain thinks like a scientist. He comes up with scientific principles, questions for us to analyze, and then he’s really good at analyzing data and distilling it down to what we need to answer our questions.”
– Gary Sutkin, M.D., director, Surgical Innovations Laboratory

It was this interest in electroacoustic music that would provide him with another opportunity in his academic career. This time, at UMKC’s Health Sciences Campus, working in tandem with Dr. Gary Sutkin, professor of surgery and associate dean of women’s health at the UMKC School of Medicine. Together, the two are studying how sounds in the operating room can affect health outcomes for patients during surgery.

“Paul is a scientist,” said Sutkin of his colleague. “When I think of people in the Conservatory, I think of creators, musicians and artists, but I never think of science. And yet, Paul’s brain thinks like a scientist. He comes up with scientific principles, questions for us to analyze, and then he’s really good at analyzing data and distilling it down to what we need to answer our questions.”

“I think my study with electroacoustics and knowing how the brain processes sound brought me to the operating room study,” Rudy says. “Sound is vibrating on us, acting upon us all the time. Every time we hear sound it’s not just hitting our ears; it’s hitting our whole body. There was a part of me that was excited about offering something other than just the study of music. This seemed to be an opportunity to take that work into a deeper, more significant arena, and it’s still unfolding.”

“We’ve been studying it for about two or three years, and we’re going to study it for about another 20,” said Sutkin, only half-jokingly. “We’re not the first ones to measure the sound environment, but I think we are the first ones to really delve into what we call ‘speech communication interference,’ when someone says something, and the other person doesn’t hear them. There are so many machines that are making loud noises, multiple conversations going on. We’re measuring those interferences, then I think we can make recommendations.”

Those recommendations could one day save lives by changing the very nature of how operating rooms are built and managed. For now, the pair are happy with the success they’ve seen, having been published in one medical journal, with a second article currently under review.

Rudy considers research a part of his creative process, satisfying his analytical side so as not to hinder creative flow while making his art. “The brain is really good at cataloging and organizing things, but the spirit knows how to make the best use of it all.” That was the realization, Rudy says, when creating became fun. “I felt like I had all these resources starting to really work together and complement each other.”

Rudy’s creative spirit carries well beyond music. Settled on 70 acres, north of Lawrence, Kansas, you’ll find Harmony Farm, a home as interesting and eccentric as the man who lives there.

“It’s become a canvas, of sorts, that I photograph and that I use to make modern day ‘Nazca Lines,’” says Rudy, referring to massive and mysterious geoglyphs etched across Peru’s Nazca Desert. While Rudy openly admits to keeping a quiet social life outside of the farm, he’s ever eager to share his passions with students at UMKC.

“Over the last ten years, I’ve started to love teaching,” Rudy says. “It went from being part of the job to something I really look forward to doing. Part of what I love is staying in touch with young people.”

“Paul is one of the most generous people I know, and one of the most open thinkers,” said Andrew Granade, former interim dean of the Conservatory. “I’ve been on dissertation graduate committees with him many, many times with his students, and they all sound like themselves. He has a unique ability to listen to them, respond to them and help them grow into the artist they need to be.”

Rudy challenges his students to find fresh perspectives, and he does so with zest, teaching a general education course he calls the artist in society.

“I’ve had students tell me they’ve never seen a piece of art before, I’ve had students tell me they’ve never had a conversation with someone they disagreed with before,” Rudy says. “And I just love seeing what happens when they have those new experiences. Part of my job is mentoring them into those new experiences. I present them with some really uncomfortable stuff, sometimes purposefully, for them to learn how to witness what happens in them when things get uncomfortable.”

“Paul is very Socratic in his teaching style,” said Granade, “I imagine the first couple of weeks it’s a little bit uncomfortable for them, because any time you have your beliefs or thoughts challenged, it’s uncomfortable. But what he’s doing is basically saying this is the role of the artist, literally the role of the artist in society is to open up these dialogues.”

Rudy says he wants students to think about the ways they act and react. How do they navigate obstacles? How do they learn and grow?

It’s a practice he recently had to exercise himself. But through a painful experience, he says he’s found one of his proudest moments.

Rudy’s long-time friend, poet Jay Hopler was 51 years old when he lost his battle with cancer in June. The two had studied together at the American Academy of Rome in Italy.

“In 2017, Jay was thinking about a poem that would describe himself, and he asked me, ‘If I were a piece of music, what would I be?’” Rudy says the melody was instant. “I heard the music in my head. That doesn’t happen often. Most of the time, it’s hard work, but I knew exactly what Jay sounds like.”

Holding up a copy of still life, Hopler’s final published book of poetry, Rudy turned to the last page of the closing entry, where just a few bars of music were included with the poet’s words.

“It’s the second-to-last line, even,” he notes. “I don’t think anybody’s ever done that before. A little piece of music, describing this poet, is part of his obituary poem. I didn’t know that until I saw the final copy of the book. I’m actually considering making a whole piece in memoriam of him to celebrate his amazing words and amazing life.”

It’s there Rudy shows his spirit again. His spirit for life, healing and creation through sound, even when faced with the loss of a friend. It’s this unique mindset that has pushed him to find success time and time again, both personally and professionally.

“For me,” Rudy says, “the bottom line is, ‘Is what I’m doing interesting?’ If not, is it the thing I’m doing? Or the way I’m doing it?” Adding, “It’s usually the latter.”

It’s this ability to reshape his own perspective that’s given Rudy new love for everything he does.

“I think that’s when my academic career started to change. When I realized it’s not the responsibility of my job to give me fulfillment, that’s my responsibility to find fulfillment in what I’m doing. I love these interesting collaborations that I’m constantly on the lookout for. Teaching is one of those collaborations between me and the generation that’s going to rule the world someday. How cool is that?”

UMKC School of Medicine Celebrates 50 Years

-Events, -PRN, Alumni,
Alumni and community leaders honor successful past and promising future

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine celebrated its rich 50-year history as a leader in innovative health care education and delivery in the urban core of Kansas City, and its future potential during the school’s Golden Jubilee event on June 4.

Event chairs Rachael and Nelson Sabates, M.D., ’86, and honorary chairs Charlie Shields, president and CEO of University Health, and the Honorable Brenda Shields welcomed more than 800 alumni and community supporters to the event.

Mary Anne Jackson (MD ’78), dean of the medical school, recognized Lucky Chopra (BA,’91, MD ’92), as the recipient of the 2022 UMKC School of Medicine Alumni Award.

“Dr. Chopra’s entrepreneurial career began while he was still in his final year of radiology residency,” Jackson said. “Working out of his garage, he purchased an old milk truck and converted it to carry a ‘barely portable’ radiology X-ray machine and began contracting with local Houston nursing homes to provide imaging services without the patient having to travel. His company, Advanced Diagnostics Healthcare, was born.”

"Four thousand alumni strong, we are the backbone for health care in a multitude of communities, serving as innovators and leaders in clinical care, as educators, department chairs, section chiefs and medical school faculty, as leaders in diversity and advocacy, and national leaders in research.”
- Mary Anne Jackson, M.D., dean UMKC School of Medicine

Jackson celebrated the school’s outstanding legacy beginning with the first dean, Richardson K. Noback, M.D., who will be 99 years old this year, and the late E. Grey Dimond, M.D., who developed the accelerated curriculum and docent concept that is now a part of medical programs across the county.

Attendees look at pillars depicting photos from each decade of the medical school

Jackson acknowledged the  tight connection between the school and Kansas City.

“We are the anchor to healthcare in the urban core and beyond,” Jackson said. “Teaching students how to use information, how to approach ambiguity and uncertainty and to think critically about challenges in medicine and biomedical science, continues to be part of our DNA. Four thousand alumni strong, we are the backbone for health care in a multitude of communities, serving as innovators and leaders in clinical care, as educators, department chairs, section chiefs and medical school faculty, as leaders in diversity and advocacy, and national leaders in research.”

A group of gala attendees smile for a photo with Chancellor Mauli Agrawal

Jackson noted the significant contribution of the school’s clinical affiliates and their dedication to student education by providing opportunities for students to participate in care for diverse patient populations and to see cutting edge medical care and its affects.

“We are grateful for the strong partnerships with University Health, Children’s Mercy, St. Luke’s Health System, Research Medical Center, the Center for Behavioral Medicine, the Kansas City VA, Advent Health and Liberty Hospital.”

A woman stands to be recognized with her hand over her heart. People seated around her are applauding.

New partnerships have led to the student opportunities and advancement of health care statewide.

“In 2021 we launched our additional campus in St. Joseph, Missouri and welcomed our newest affiliate, Mosaic Life Care, to recruit, prepare and encourage these students to become part of the primary health community in rural Missouri counties,” Jackson said.

After highlighting the outstanding successes of alumni, UMKC chancellor Mauli Agrawal recognized the event chairs for their untiring leadership and support of the School of Medicine.

“This spectacular event is much more than a party,” Agrawal said. “This evening represents and celebrates generations and decades – literally five decades – of students, graduates, critical health care providers and their teachers. Just as the UMKC School of Medicine was launched with an innovative vision of healthcare education five decades ago, we move into the next fifty years with an exciting vision for the future of the school.”

The Collective – Affiliate Updates

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We are excited to announce that Truman Medical Centers/University Health has become University Health! The name University Health reflects our commitment to patient care and highlights our role as an academic medical center and as the primary teaching hospital of the UMKC Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry. University Health has a long, proud history as Kansas City’s essential hospital. Our team remains dedicated to providing comprehensive care to patients, whether those patients have top-notch health insurance or no insurance at all. Our name has changed but our mission remains the same. Our dedication to this mission has helped us attain the recognitions described below and will drive us to accomplish even greater things going forward.

The Lown Institute Hospitals Index ranked University Health first in the state of Missouri, and 11th in the nation out of 3,200 hospitals examined. The Lown Institute Hospitals Index is the first national ranking to examine a hospital’s racial inclusivity with regard to its patients. The Institute created their rankings by assessing how well the demographics of a hospital’s Medicare patients matched the demographics of the hospital’s surrounding communities.

University Health’s workforce and diversity and inclusion initiatives placed us in the top 20 of the most diverse workplaces in the nation, according to Forbes Magazine. Other hospitals in the top 20 include the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, putting University Health in very good company. Forbes surveyed 50,000 Americans to pinpoint their employer’s dedication to diversity. The diversity ranking features the top 500 employers that received the most recommendations, had the most diverse boards and executive ranks, and the most proactive diversity and inclusion initiatives. 27 hospitals made the top 500 employers list. University Health ranked 18th for hospitals with an overall ranking of 155.

The Collective – STAHR Updates

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The STAHR Ambassador Program is in full swing. We have transitioned back to in-person meetings and have already hosted our Kickoff Retreat and our first Workshop on Academic Support. Both events had more than 60 in attendance. In November, we successfully held our second workshop, which was centered on Mental Health and Wellness.

The STAHR Scholars Program has transitioned to providing our scholars with year-round support. In addition to the programming offered in the summer, we provide students with additional assistance as they aim to become the most competitive applicants for health professional school. We are currently supporting 34 students: 20 high school and 14 undergraduates. Our office assists with personal statement and resume review, interview prep, and resources for ACT and MCAT prep.

The Collective – UMKC DEI Updates

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Drop in with the Office of DEI – As the Associate and Assistant Deans of DEI joined UMKC SOM during the pandemic, we recognize the need for the SOM community to have the opportunity to get to know us better including our plans for the Office of DEI. We plan to have regularly scheduled “drop ins” for people to stop by and say hello or to ask any questions. Please watch for more information about the dates, times and locations for these sessions at the Kansas City and St. Joseph campuses.


Anti-Racism and Cultural Bias Program – The program was formally incorporated into the School of Medicine curriculum with all medical students required to participate in the program prior to beginning clinical clerkships. Professor Mikah Thompson taught the first module entitled Cultural Self-Awareness/Cultural Sensibility during the 2020-2021 academic year. Remaining modules include Implicit Bias and Medicine, Privilege and White Fragility, The Social Construction of Race, Intersectionality, Microaggressions and Medicine, and Capstone. The Office of DEI is collaborating with the Office of Graduate Medical Education to expand the educational trainings about DEI to resident and fellowship trainees. More information coming in the future.


Critical Mass Gathering – The 16th Annual Critical Mass Gathering event was held on October 17-18, 2021 to support under-represented in medicine pre-medical and medical students as they traverse the continuum of a medical career. More than 100 participants attended the virtual event with seminars about financial literacy, specialty speed mentoring and networking, and discussion with the deans from the Kansas City medical schools. Chief Health Equity Officer from Humana Incorporated, J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, provided the keynote address.

UMKC alum works to promote breast cancer awareness, diversify field

-PRN,
Dr. Amy Patel leads KC area Breast Care Center while mentoring students

Growing up in Chillicothe, Missouri, a town of fewer than 10,000 people, Amy Patel didn’t see many physicians that looked like her.

“There was only one primary care woman physician in my hometown and there weren’t any women who looked like me, a woman of color. From a young age I realized there was such a need for women practicing specialized care, but especially for women of color,” Patel said.

That observation sparked a fire and passion in Patel that has continued to grow. Patel went on to study medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and graduated from the school’s six-year medical program. During medical school she completed a rotation with a breast radiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, which was a turning point in her decision to specialize in breast cancer radiology.

After completing a breast imaging fellowship at Washington University, Patel began her professional career in Boston, and even found time to work as a faculty member at Harvard. But eventually, Patel felt called to return to Missouri.

“I always wanted to come back to the Midwest to assume a leadership position where I could make a difference and make an impact,” Patel explained.

In July of 2018 Patel was named medical director of the Breast Imaging Center at Liberty Hospital. Since her arrival she’s helped grow the program, adding an additional breast imaging specialist, starting a plastic surgery program and partnering with the UMKC School of Medicine to launch a Breast Radiology elective course. Patel teaches the course, which involves a rotation designed to introduce medical students to a range of screening and diagnostic breast imaging modalities to multidisciplinary care. She hopes this course will help others, especially women and minorities, become more interested in the profession.

“The percentages of women entering the radiology field have remained around 27% a year, and those numbers for underrepresented minorities are even lower. Right now, there are so many opportunities for students and I’m hopeful in the future, we will start to see growth in the percentages that have remained stagnant for many years,” Patel said.

In addition to helping launch the new rotation, Patel says one of the initiatives she’s most excited about is a newly launched genetics program within Liberty Hospital.

“Knowing your family history is very important because that could potentially warrant genetic consultation and then possible testing. That is why it’s so important for a hospital system to have a genetics program and that’s why we’ve worked really hard to have one here,” she adds.

While familial genetic indicators may be out of our control, Patel says everyone can proactively take steps to lower their risk of breast cancer.

“A healthy diet is important, maintaining a body mass index that is within recommended limits is key because we know obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer. Moderate alcohol consumption and not smoking are also important ways to lower your risk,” Patel said.

Regular screenings are also key in the fight against breast cancer. Patel says screening rates among women plummeted into the single digits during the pandemic due to the pause of routine screenings in Spring and early Summer of 2020 under advisement of the CDC. While the numbers have started to rebound, they’re still down about 13% compared to pre-pandemic.

“I always wanted to come back to the Midwest to assume a leadership position where I could make a difference and make an impact.” — Amy Patel

 

Dr. Amy Patel looks at images in a lab

“We are particularly worried about women of color, who tend to be the ones with more barriers when it comes to access and education. If screening rates don’t pick back up, we are worried that disparity could widen even further so it’s really going to take the entire breast cancer community to come together and encourage patients of all backgrounds to get screened,” Patel said.

Patel says October is a good time to get screened and encourage friends and family to do so as well.

“Breast Cancer Awareness Month is not just about raising money for research; the awareness component is equally as important, and I love to see specialists coming together and encouraging others to go and get your mammogram.”

The Collective – Affiliate Institutions

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Children’s Mercy Hospital


Virtual Equity and Diversity Education Sessions

  • Date: May 25th, 2021
    Topic: Immigrant and Refugee Families – Addressing Culturally Sensitive Strategies in a Healthcare Setting
    Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM
  • Date: June 24th, 2021
    Topic: Unconscious Bias for Healthcare Professionals
    Time: 12:00 – 1 PM
  • Date: July 22nd, 2021
    Topic: Culture & Language: Engaging Families Through Health Literacy
    Time: 12:00 – 1 PM
  • Date: August 26th, 2021
    Topic: The Impact of Micro-Messages in the Workplace
    Time: 12:00 – 1 PM


Remembering Sister Corita Bussanmas
Sister Corita Bussanmas, co-founder of Operation Breakthrough (OB), passed away March 27, 2021 at the age of 87. A 50-year champion of children and families facing adversity, Sister Corita spent most of her life providing social services, education and health for those most in need (https://operationbreakthrough.org/sister-corita-bussanmas-1933-2021). To honor the life of Sister Corita, Children’s Mercy Hospital had a formal collaboration with Operation Breakthrough, named Partnership for Resilient Families, which combined early childhood education and healthcare delivery efforts at OB.


Chief Residents
Each year, Children’s Mercy Pediatrics Residency Program selects three resident leaders from the second-year class to continue at CMH for an additional year after graduation and serve as key leaders of the residency program and the hospital.

We are excited to announce the Pediatric Chief Residents for the 2022-2023 academic year will be: Dr. Darius Blanding, Dr. Zuri Hudson and Dr. Jordan Marquees. They will start their Chief Resident year in July 2022. For the upcoming academic year, July 2021-June 2022, our Chief Residents will be Drs. Adam, Brown and Meyer.

  • Darius Blanding, M.D.
    Dr. Blanding grew up in small town South Carolina and graduated with an honors biology degree from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University before completing medical school at the University of South Carolina-Greenville. He came to Kansas City for the first time to interview for our residency program and we are excited that he has chosen to stay for a fourth year and serve as Chief Resident. Throughout his residency training, Dr. Blanding has been recognized for his friendly demeanor and approachability mixed with his leadership skills that are highlighted in medical school student government positions and work with diversity and inclusion at both CMH and UMKC. Dr. Blanding has career aspirations that include pursuing a fellowship in Gastroenterology followed by a career in medical education.
  • Zuri Hudson, D.O.
    Dr. Hudson was in the first cohort of the Mercy +ME pilot-year program of the rotation that was funded by the Black Community Fund of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. After growing up in Sharpsburg, Georgia, she headed to Atlanta and Georgia Institute of Technology (She will tell you ‘Go Jackets!’) where she earned her undergraduate degree in biology.  She continued her education at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee where she earned her medical degree as well as a master’s degree in business (M.B.A) and a master’s degree in biological sciences (M.Biol.S.).  When you meet Dr. Hudson, you will quickly see why her peers identify her as energetic, enthusiastic, and approachable in her role as a physician and leader. Dr. Hudson post-residency plans includes a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and continued work on her passions of diversity, equity and inclusion in academic medicine, mental health, and advocacy.
  • Jordan Marquess, M.D.
    Dr. Marquess is a Kansas City native who earned an honors degree in biology from Kansas State University along with a minor in leadership studies before completing her medical degree from the University of Kansas. Our residency program was happy Dr. Marquess chose to ‘stay home’ and complete her training at CMH where she has utilized her leadership background to demonstrate for her peers a friendly and enthusiastic energy with disciplined and professional expectations for patient care and creating positive work environments. Dr. Marquess is considering fellowship opportunities in hospital medicine or critical care after her Chief year with a goal to be a lifelong formal and informal leader in medicine.

Walking the Talk: Glass Ceiling
In honor of Women’s History Month, Michelle Wimes, SVP and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, sat down with Children’s Mercy medical and research trainees to learn more about the obstacles they’ve overcome, who they see shattering glass ceilings, and what excites them about the future. Here is the Youtube link: https://youtu.be/9Bu_Rggjnfg


STAR Program

Congratulations to Dr. Bridgette Jones and Vickie Yarbrough on student and teacher selection of Children’s Mercy Summer Training in Academic Research (STAR) 2.0 Program, which provides a hands-on, high-quality research experience during the summer academic break for high school students and educators. During the 6-week program, held June 21 to July 29, 2021, participants will get the chance to:

– Work with Children’s Mercy faculty on an original research project.
– Develop a research publication for submission in a peer-reviewed journal.
– Learn about clinical and translational research methodology, writing, statistics, medical ethics, and career development.
– Network and learn with other students/educators from across the country.

The STAR Program 2.0 is held at the Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) and will also collaborate with the STAR Program at Duke University. The CMRI integrates research into healthcare by fostering a partnership among healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and families. Together we are pursuing discoveries to improve the health and well-being of children everywhere. The CMRI is located on the Hospital Hill Campus at 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Mo.

Students and teacher are:
Mikayla Stamps – she is a student at Sumner Academy in Kansas City, Kansas
Paw Wah – she is a student at Northeast High School
Zackary Shelby – he is a student at Lincoln Prep
Yvonne Villa – she is a student at East High School
Kaison Hill-Beard – he is a student at Lincoln Prep
Ms. Danielle Farr – middle school science teacher at University Academy


Children’s Mercy Hospital Notes

Two abstracts from Clínica Hispana de Cuidados de Salud (CHiCoS) Research Group have been accepted for presentation at the upcoming Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in May. Congratulations to project leads Jodi Dickmeyer and Ryan Northup. The titles are “Where are they now? Spanish utilization and career direction of graduates of a pediatric bilingual continuity clinic” and “Spanish-speaking families’ perspectives on the acceptability and impact of culture and language coaching for bilingual residents.” The abstracts will be presented as an “e-Poster with Chat Q&A” as part of an on-demand virtual poster session available throughout the meeting and until January 2022.

In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31st), CM Pride Employee Resource Group hosted two guest speakers: Rachael Cady, Kansas City Center for Inclusion and Dr. Rachael Allen from UMKC.

African-American Advancement celebrated Women’s History Month with a special wellness session titled, “Survival Over Sisterhood,” which is a reflection opportunity to talk about how we treat and/or celebrate one another.

In partnership with Interfaith Employee Resource Group and Spiritual Services, CM celebrated a virtual Festival of Colors-Holi celebration, a popular festival that celebrates the eternal and divine love of Radha and Krishna.

Children’s Mercy Office of Equity and Diversity and Spiritual Services conducted a Service to Honor Those Lost in the Atlanta Tragedy on March 23rd, 2021.

Truman Medical Center

Truman Medical Centers/University Health is excited to highlight two staff members who are expanding their roles to enhance the organization’s value in equity, diversity, and inclusion in our health care system.

Dr. Brett Ferguson, DDS, FACS, FICD, has become TMC/UH’s Medical Director of Health Equity. Dr. Ferguson serves our community as an accomplished oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He says he is happiest in the operating room. Among several other notable accomplishments, he is the recipient of the 2019 W. Kendall McNabney Heart for Healing Award, the first Black person to be elected to the board of trustees of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and chair of UMKC’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry. Many lives have been changed due to his passion to serve our community.

Kamera Meaney, MA, MBA, has assumed the role of Director of Nursing Administrative Services. She will lead projects on nursing wellness and resiliency, provide administrative support for the TMC/UH and UMKC academic-practice partnership, and will serve as the liaison between TMC/UH’s Nursing Administration and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Department. She is an alumna of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Centurions Leadership Program and has been highly successful in implementing special programs and leading initiatives to advance equity in healthcare service delivery.

We congratulate Dr. Ferguson and Mrs. Meaney on their new roles. TMC/UH is confident they will enhance health care equity in our community.

The Collective – UMKC DEI Updates

ODI, The Collective

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and the School of Medicine DEI Council are actively working to ensure that all identities represented at UMKC SOM are seen, heard, valued and appreciated. We are aware that we cannot make announcements and statements for everything, but we strive to provide some form of recognition for all.

2021 Residency Match

Congratulations to our Students in Medicine, Academia, Research, and Training (SMART) Program who matched for residency training. We are so proud of you and all of your hard work towards this wonderful achievement.

  • Saniya “Sunny” Ablatt – General Surgery – St. Joseph’s Hospital – Tacoma, WA
  • Rico Beuford – Emergency Medicine – Duke University Medical Center – Durham, NC
  • Manuela “Mela” Garcia – Family Medicine – Texas Tech University – El Paso, TX
  • Nina Govalla – Psychiatry – University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, AZ
  • Nila Jones – Internal Medicine – Kettering Health Network – Kettering, OH
  • Ginika Osude Ibezim – Family Medicine – University of Texas at Austin-Dell Medical School – Austin, TX
  • Debra Wekesa – Internal Medicine – University of Nebraska Medical Center – Omaha, NE

DEI Highlights


Women’s History Month– Thank you to the presenters, panelists, members of the UMKC SOM Chapter of AMWA, and supporters of Women’s History Month activities. The month-long celebration included webinars about financial literacy, negotiation skills, leaderHERship, and a community service activity.

Panel Discussion – Thank you for attending our panel discussion about the documentary, Black Men in White Coats, on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. This was an impactful and informative discussion about the impacts of being a Black man in the medical profession, reasons for the decreased numbers of Black men in medicine, and potential action steps to mitigate this problem. Thank you to our moderator and panelists.

Michael Moncure, MD (moderator)
Jordan Grimmett
Darius Blanding, MD
Jackson Sadler, MD
Michael Moncure
Michael Weaver, MD
Gerald Woods, MD

Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia – Thank you for attending our panel discussion about anti-Asian racism and xenophobia on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. This was an empowering and safe space discussing the unfortunate rise in racism and xenophobia experienced by the Asian American/Pacific Islander community including the associated feelings about these acts and impact on the community. Thank you to our moderator and panelists.

Valerie Chuy (moderator)
Victoria Shi
Yen Luu
Nabeel Rasheed
Robin Imperial, MD
Rex Liu, MD
James Kim, MD
Nolan Kagetsu, MD

UIM Student Recruitment – At the School of Medicine, we continue to take action-steps towards supporting the recruitment of diverse students. This includes enhancing the pathway from our SOM high school and college student health sciences development programs with activities such as automatic interviews of participants for the Physician Assistant Program.We continue to create and strengthen partnerships and collaborations with K-12 schools, historically Black colleges/universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and non-profit organizations. More information to come in the future.

Learning Environment – The Learning Environment has been active and busy over the last few months in designing and creating content that promotes professionalism and respect at the SOM. The Project Expect Respect website is now up and running. This initiative is designed to highlight the stories and lived experiences of our SOM community in efforts to promote learning, teachable moments, and empathy from the experiences of others. Please visit https://med.umkc.edu/ProjectExpectRespect to share your story or read the stories of others. The Project PEAK (Professionalism, Empathy, and Kindness) website is also up and running. This initiative provides an opportunity to share stories and experiences about the core values of the medical profession. Please visit https://med.umkc.edu/ProjectPEAK/ to read and listen to colleagues stories as well as to share your own.


UMKC School of Medicine STAHR Program

  • The Ambassador Program wrapped up the year with its Culmination Ceremony on Wednesday, April 28th.  At the event, all professional mentors, student leaders and student mentors were honored. Additionally, we highlighted our 18 Spring 2021 graduates (6 from Medicine, 5 from Dentistry, and 7 from Pharmacy).
  • We are gearing up for our virtual Summer Scholars Program that starts June 1st for undergraduate students and June 14th for high school students. This summer, we will host 112 scholars in the program (40 undergraduates and 72 high school students). We are excited to kick-off the program soon! Take a look at what our 2020 Scholars had to say about the their experience in the program. What has UMKC STAHR Summer Scholars meant to you?

 

School of Medicine recognizes first I-Ph.D. graduate

-PRN, Biomedical and Health Informatics, ,

Jeremy Provance was always interested in both health care and computers but wasn’t sure how to fit them together. The UMKC School of Medicine provided his answer.

As graduates of the School of Medicine took part in a commencement ceremony at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium on May 15 and 16, Provance became the first Ph.D. graduate from the medical school earning an interdisciplinary doctorate in biomedical and health informatics.

He describes the field as taking the enormous amount of health data that is generated every day and “making sense of all of those data points and telling the story about what is happening with our health.”

Provance didn’t know bioinformatics and data science existed until he found them as part of UMKC’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. The program allows students to work across disciplines to develop an individual academic plan geared to their specific interest.

Through collaboration with UMKC’s School of Graduate Studies, the School of Medicine started offering bioinformatics as a co-discipline in 2014 and as a primary discipline in 2017. Studying this emphasis, students like Provance primarily focus on biomedical data and knowledge, using that information in problem solving and decision making to develop technology and processes that will shape the future of health care.

Provance earned his master’s degree in bioinformatics at the School of Medicine in 2017.  He then continued in the I-Ph.D. program where he found several appealing factors during his studies, including the school’s quality of faculty, research opportunities and interdisciplinary aspect.

“My mentors were so critical to my success, and the faculty were such excellent people both in and out of the classroom. And bioinformatics is a such broad discipline – you can specialize in many different areas.”
– Jeremy Provance

“My mentors were so critical to my success, and the faculty were such excellent people both in and out of the classroom,” he said. “And bioinformatics is a such broad discipline – you can specialize in many different areas.” Provance’s studies focused primarily on cardiovascular outcomes research through the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint Luke’s Hospital.

Fostering collaborations with area institutions and corporations and across disciplinary boundaries are the program’s strengths, according to Jenifer Allsworth, Ph.D., and the bioinformatics department vice chair. “Through these partnerships, our students work with and alongside people from different organizations and backgrounds. We are training students to have the skills to best contribute in a rapidly evolving field.”

Provance says his overall goal is to understand “what we do well as individuals, doctors and health systems, and to encourage those practices and to identify areas for improvement to change them for the better.” Soon, he’ll be doing just that at the Yale School of Medicine, where he’s accepted a research position with its Vascular Medicine Outcomes Group.

“I would not have been successful without the guidance of my research advisor, Dr. Kim Smolderen, and my dissertation chair, Dr. John Spertus. And certainly there are so many others – brilliant researchers, administrators, clinicians, fellow students and more – that helped me find my way through this program,” he said.

Though he was familiar with bioinformatics through his master’s degree, Provance says it’s hard to anticipate doctoral work until you are going through it. His advice to others considering the I-Ph.D. program? Find a strong mentor and understand the importance of collaboration and networking. “It makes all the difference when you are identifying the path forward,” he said.

And though it was four years of hard work, overall, Provance says he’d do it all again. “But I’m glad I don’t have to!”