In addition to being the Director, GRECC, Dr. Sullivan is the Executive Vice Chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics and Professor of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His clinical and research expertise is in the area of nutrition and rehabilitation of the frail elderly and assessment of health outcomes. For the past 15 years, he has been funded to study the interrelationship between nutrition, physical fitness, and illness in the frail elderly. The results of this research have been published in numerous journals. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and has a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine. He is a member of the following scientific and professional societies: American College of Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, The Gerontological Society of America, American Federation for Clinical Research and the American College of Nutrition. He also serves on multiple committees and as a reviewer for numerous journals.

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Dr. Griffin focuses on the mechanisms involved in the progression of Alzheimer's Disease. Recently, Dr. Griffin has discovered a link between the presence of a certain immuni-response-generated cytokine, Interleukin-1, and the increased probability of onset of Alzheimer's Disease. This is seen as a significant breakthrough in the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's, and it has drawn nationwide acclaim for Dr. Griffin, the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics and the Little Rock GRECC.

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Dr. Chernoff has been a prolific author and editor. She has edited 3 books and published 28 abstracts, 29 journal articles, and 98 other publications, including book chapters, invited reviews, and other articles. Her primary interests are in nutrition and aging, pressure ulcers, and health promotion. She is very involved in many activities to educate health professionals to better care for older adult patients. She has given over 430 continuing education presentations, won many professional accolades, and has served on many national, professional, and advisory committees.

Patrick Kortebein, MD

Associate Director for Clinical Programs

Dr. Kortebein received his medical training at Washington University in St. Louis, and then served in the US Navy as an Undersea Medical Officer. He completed his Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residency training at the Mayo Clinic in 2001. Prior to his arrival at UAMS in August 2003, he worked with a private practice group in Indianapolis. His research interests include geriatric and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, with a particular interest in optimizing the recovery of older patients that have declined functionally as a result of hospitalization.

As. the GRECC Administrative Officer, Mrs. Guthrie is the corporate officer of the GRECC with the primary goal of implementation of all GRECC program requirements as stated by Public Law 96-330 and so required by the Office of Geriatrics and Extended Care (VACO), CAVHS and VISN 16. Mrs. Guthrie has been employed by the Veterans Administration for 30 years and has been the AO in the Little Rock GRECC for 17 years.

The Barger laboratory studies basic elements of cellular neurobiology, particularly as it relates to the development of Alzheimer's disease. In cultures established from human and rodent brain tissue, the biological activity of an Alzheimer-related protein, beta-amyloid precursor, is examined. The laboratory also seeks to describe more general relationships between innate immunity and neurodegeneration.

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Dr. Bodenner completed his medical school training and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He also obtained a doctorate degree in chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He is Board Certified in Endocrinology having completed his training at the National Institutes of Health. He has a special interest in diseases of the thyroid and bone that afflict the elderly.

Richard A Dennis, PhD

His work is currently using an exercise model to identify the molecular and biochemical factors that control muscle loss during aging.  Specifically, he is interested in the factors that regulate muscle repair and growth.  His results indicate that levels of these factors generally decrease in muscle as we age and lose their responsiveness to exercise.  His future studies will seek to determine if exercise training can restore the normal levels and response to exercise for these factors.  He is a native Arkansan and received his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

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William J. Evans, Ph.D. is the director of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory. He is a Professor of Geriatrics, Physiology, and Nutrition. From 1993 to 1997 he was the director of the Noll Physiological Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University and from 1982 to 1993 he served as the Chief of the Human Physiology Laboratory at the U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, The American College of Nutrition, and an honorary member of the American Dietetic Association. He is the author or co-author of more than 160 publications in scientific journals. Along with Irwin Rosenberg, M.D., he is the author of Biomarkers: The Ten Determinants of Aging You Can Control (Simon & Schuster) and has recently authored AstroFit (Simon & Schuster, 2002). The NMEL examines the relationship between exercise, nutrition and aging. His landmark studies have demonstrated the ability of older men and women to improve strength, fitness, and health through exercise, even into the 10th decade of life. He receives grant support from a variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Administration, and NASA. He has served as an expert advisor to NASA in a number of committees, including the Science Working Group responsible for the design of the Human Research Facility aboard the International Space Station and The Life Sciences Advisory Subcommittee. He also served at the head of the Nutrition and Exercise research group for the National Space Biomedical Institute. Dr. Evans is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

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Kimberly Garner, MD, JD is a Clinical Instructor at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a Special Fellow in Advance Geriatrics at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System where she is conducting research in palliative medicine with an emphasis on needs of caregivers.

After completing a dietetics degree at Louisiana Tech University and Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport, Dr. Garner received her M.D. from UAMS and then completed a residency in Family Medicine at UAMS-AHEC Pine Bluff. She received her J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock - School of Law. She has completed additional training in Geriatrics at UAMS.

Dr. Garner is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Association and Baptist Medical Dental Association

Richard A. Jones, Medical Research Technician, has been part of the GRECC since 1982. Richard previously worked with Dr. Sam Goldstein using human fibroblasts as an in vitro model to study the aging process at the cellular and molecular levels. Under the leadership of Dr. Sue Griffin, Director of Research for GRECC, Richard is presently part of a global investigative team, whose aging research is addressing the questions associated with the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Richard coordinates laboratory operations associated with Dr. Griffin’s projects. Funded through the NIA, these exciting and dynamic research studies place this group of investigators at the forefront in the field of Alzheimer’s Disease research.

Joan E. McEwen, Ph.D. received her B.A. in Biology from Jackson College of Tufts University and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from The Sue Golding Graduate Division of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Prior to joining the UAMS faculty and the Little Rock GRECC in 1995, she was an Assistant professor of Microbiology at UCLA and an Associate Staff Scientist at The Beckman Research Institute of The City of Hope Medical Center. Dr. McEwen’s research concerns mechanistic links between mitochondrial metabolism and cellular oxidative and nitrosative stress. The metabolic energy required for growth, repair, and survival of eukaryotic cells is predominantly generated by mitochondria, but an unavoidable side reaction of oxidative metabolism is production of free radicals, thus contributing to cellular oxidative stress and aging. Cellular nitrosative stress, caused by nitric oxide, includes direct inhibition of mitochondrial enzymes with cell death as the end result, if the stress is not appropriately combatted. For her studies, Dr. McEwen uses two model organisms, Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Histoplasma capsulatum.

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Robert J. S. Reis, D. Phil., is a molecular geneticist with extensive experience in studies of aging and longevity, DNA methylation, genomic instability, homologous recombination, telomere attrition, and gene mapping. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and D. Phil. in Genetics from Sussex University (U.K.), and trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the MRC Mammalian Genome Unit in Edinburgh and at UCSD, La Jolla. He has been the mentor of 11 graduate students at UAMS, of which 8 received Ph.D. degrees and 2 M.Sc. degrees. A ninth Ph.D. student is expected to graduate within the next year. Dr. Reis research interests include Homologous recombination and telomerase activity in normal vs. transformed cells, Chromosomal localization of genes affecting longevity and stress-response in the nematode C. elegans, and Genes governing bone density in mice and humans.

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Staff Physician at the GRECC, CAVHS, and Professor and Executive Vice Chair of the Reynolds Dept of Geriatrics, is an experienced gerontologic investigator, teacher, and academic administrator. She has over twenty-two years of experience in gerontologic research, in mentoring of gerontologic fellows and junior faculty, and in developing research and academic programs and initiatives. Dr. Wei obtained the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois. She completed an internal medicine residency and a cardiology fellowship, both at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She also completed a staff fellowship in the cardiovascular section at the Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging. She was Director of the Division on Aging at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Gerontology Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from 1991-1999, and served as Senior Physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1996-2002. We are interested in enhancing the current understanding of the influence of age on the heart, and why the older person is more vulnerable to poor outcomes following ischemic and hemodynamic stress.

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