UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute

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UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute

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At PRI, we lead Arkansas to a better state of mental health by advancing research, delivering compassionate care, and educating future providers.

We expand access to treatment, strengthen communities, and create pathways to hope and healing statewide. UAMS has certain social media policies and guidelines in place for our institution. To see a full list of guidelines and terms of use, go to http://uamshealth.com/socialmediaguidelines.

11/03/2026

🧠 Psychiatry Grand Rounds | Thursday, November 5 at 4:00 PM CT

Join us to explore how family history and early-life adversity shape vulnerability to alcohol and other substance use disorders, and what differences in stress reactivity, immune regulation, and brain structure reveal about familial risk.

Ashley Acheson, Ph.D., will present “Familial Risk for Substance Use Disorders: Early Life Influences and Biological Correlates.”bDr. Acheson is Professor and Vice Chair for Research and the Wilbur D. Mills Distinguished Chair in Drug Abuse Prevention in the Department of Psychiatry at UAMS. He has been awarded more than $20 million in NIH funding to study the behavioral and biological mechanisms behind addiction risk, works on the long-running Family Health Patterns Project, and is a principal investigator on the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, the largest-ever study of early brain and child development.

📍 Hospital Lobby Gallery or Zoom
🗓️ Thursday, November 5 | 4:00 PM CT
🔗 UAMS employees, email [email protected] for attendance details.

10/28/2026

LITTLE ROCK – Psychiatrist Naama Hegenbarth, M.D., has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as an assistant professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.

10/27/2026

🧠✨ What a Saturday! Learn, Connect, Serve brought more than 80 college students from over 18 schools across Arkansas to UAMS for a full day of exploring careers in behavioral health. Some students drove more than three hours each way to be here, and we are so grateful they made the trip.

The day kicked off with breakfast and a pop-up academic and career fair, then students chose from eight workshops covering paths in counseling, social work, psychiatry, psychology, research, public health and policy, along with practical skills like applying to graduate and medical school, professional communication, and crisis communication.

Over tacos and chips and queso, students stepped inside a treatment team experience to see how behavioral health professionals collaborate in real-world care. In the afternoon, two panels offered honest conversations about uncertainty, detours, and finding your way. We wrapped up with ice cream, research posters, and networking.

The best part? Watching students open up as the day went on. The questions were thoughtful, the conversations were real, and so many connections were made.

Thank you to the more than 30 speakers and many volunteers who shared their time and expertise to every student who showed up curious.

💕 This event was made possible by a UAMS Chancellor’s Circle Grant.
📸 Professional photos coming soon!

10/27/2026

🧠 Psychiatry Grand Rounds | Thursday, October 29 at 4:00 PM CT

Join us for a look at rural mental health disparities and how virtually integrating mental health care into primary care can expand access for rural patients, including the effectiveness and reach of Telepsychiatry Collaborative Care.

John C. Fortney, PhD, will present “Virtual Integration of Mental Health into Primary Care to Improve Rural Access.” Dr. Fortney is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Division of Population Health at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and a Senior Research Career Scientist at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. For 37 years, his research has focused on access to care, especially the delivery of mental health services in rural primary care clinics, and he has led 18 VA-, NIH-, and PCORI-funded research projects.

📍 Zoom
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 | 4:00 PM CT
🔗 UAMS employees, email [email protected] for attendance details.

10/19/2026

🧠 Psychiatry Grand Rounds | Thursday, October 22 at 4:00 PM

Join us for an update on OptiMAT, a smartphone app designed to help reduce relapse among patients receiving medications for opioid use disorder, and what neuroimaging reveals about how the brain recovers from addiction.

Andrew James, Ph.D., will present "Smartphone Interventions, Neuroimaging, and Opioid Addiction: An Update on OptiMAT." Dr. James is Professor and Director of the UAMS Helen L. Porter and James T. D**e Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC), Arkansas's first research-dedicated human MRI center, which he helped found in 2009. His research studies how the brain's neural networks encode individual differences in behavior and cognition, and his work on OptiMAT is supported by an NIH R01 grant.

📍 Hospital Lobby Gallery or Zoom
🗓️ Thursday, October 22 | 4:00 PM CT
🔗 UAMS employees, email [email protected] for attendance details.

10/14/2026

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Psychiatric Research Institute recently launched a new statewide initiative to expand Arkansas’ capacity to provide evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for adolescents.

10/13/2026

✨ Congratulations to (left to right) Hannah Williams, M.D., Jessica Coker, M.D., and Shona Ray-Griffith, M.D., of PRI’s Women’s Mental Health Program, on being named to the Castle Connolly Top Doctors in Arkansas list for 2026. Erin Jefferson, M.D., of PRI – Northwest’s Women’s Mental Health Program was named the list’s Rising Star.

The Top Doctor selection process is based on peer-to-peer nominations, open to all licensed physicians in the United States, allowing them to nominate peers in any specialty and region. The Castle Connolly research team then thoroughly vets each nominee’s professional qualifications, including education, professional reputation, research leadership, hospital and faculty appointments, disciplinary history and outcomes data.

The Women's Mental Health Program is here for you, no referral needed (pregnancy through 12 months post-partum as well as pregnancy planning). Call 501-526-8201.

Read here: issuu.com/arkansastimesvisitorsguide/docs/top_doctors_2026

10/12/2026

🧠 Learn, Connect, Serve founder Isis Pettway, LPC, NCC and PRI undergraduate intern Nathan Alam went on KATV's daybreak over the weekend to discuss the Oct. 24th conference for college students interested in behavioral health careers.

The event is currently at capacity, but contact [email protected] to be added to the waitlist.

🔗 Watch: katv.com/community/daybreak/avioral
🔗 Event info: psychiatry.uams.edu/learn-connect-serve/🔗

Address

Little Rock, AR

Telephone

+15015268100

Website

http://www.psychiatry.uams.edu/, https://news.uams.edu/2026/03/23/after-60-years-of-suffering-arkansas-woman-finds-remis

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