Infectious Diseases
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship
The Program
The People
The Place
Contact Us
We offer a three year fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. This program is designed to prepare the board eligible/certified pediatrician for a career in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and to exceed all requirements set forth by the American Board of Pediatrics for subspecialty certification. Through experience with a full spectrum of children with infections at Arkansas Children's Hospital, fellows will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of pediatric infectious diseases and will become experts in the clinical diagnosis and management of these disorders. Fellows will select an area for in-depth study from a broad range of basic science or clinical research opportunities available at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
In addition to extensive technical training, research training will include participation in select courses offered by the Graduate School of Medical Sciences and/or School of Public Health. Fellows are expected to present at regional and/or national meetings on a yearly basis, as well as prepare one or two manuscripts per year suitable for publication.
Nada Harik, MDAssistant Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and ImmunologyDivision of Pediatric Infectious DiseasesDr. Harik serves as the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Director. Her main research interest is Staphylococcus aureus epidemiology and pathogenesis. Areas of clinical interest include Staphylococcus aureus skin/soft tissue infections, osteomyelitis/septic arthritis, infections in children with cystic fibrosis and pediatric tuberculosis.
Richard F. Jacobs, MD
Robert H. Fiser, Jr., M.D. Endowed Chair in Pediatrics
Professor of Pediatrics
Chairman, Department of Pediatrics
President, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Dr. Jacobs participates in clinical research pertaining to new anti-viral therapies through the NIH/NIAID supported Collaborative Antiviral Study Group, and participates in and directs pediatric pharmacology studies through the NIH/NICHD-sponsored Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit operated at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI). Dr. Jacobs was named President of the ACHRI in 2004, thus allowing for easy exchange of ideas and efforts between investigators at ACHRI and members of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division. He is the Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. He was a member of the American Board of Pediatrics sub-board in Pediatric Infectious Diseases from 2004-2010 and shares his extensive knowledge of infectious disease epidemiology, clinical infectious diseases, and clinical research treatment studies and development of treatment guidelines with the division. He has significant experience in these areas, with past service as a liaison member of the Red Book Committee and President of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
Matt Linam, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Dr. Linam is a clinical faculty member in infectious diseases and works closely with the infection prevention program. He completed the Quality Scholars Program in Transforming Health Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio and is assisting in developing the quality improvement program at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. His research interests involve applying improvement science and reliability principles to improve the hand hygiene practices of healthcare workers and reduce healthcare-associated infections.
José R. Romero, MD, FAAP
Horace C. Cabe Professor of Pediatrics
Chief, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Director, Clinical Trials Research, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Dr. Romero participates in clinical research related to viral and antiviral therapies through the NIH/NAID supported Collaborative Antiviral Study Group. Dr. Romero’s research interests focus on the molecular pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology of enteroviral infections. Additional areas of clinical interest include pediatric tuberculosis, viral central nervous system infections, and novel molecular approaches to the diagnosis infectious diseases. Dr. Romero is the principal investigator on multiple pharmaceutical company sponsored vaccine trials. He also serves as the Director of Infectious Diseases Section and Clinical Trials Research at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Romero is a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Board.
Stephanie Stovall, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Dr. Stovall serves as the medical director for the Microbiology laboratory at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and co-director of the ACH antimicrobial stewardship team. Her research interests include nationwide surveillance of pediatric pneumococcal and meningococcal infections as well as clinical and molecular epidemiological studies involving patient isolates at ACH. Her clinical interests include the care of HIV infected children and adolescents.
J. Gary Wheeler, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Associate Medical Director
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care
Dr. Wheeler's current research interest in is health policy and prevention. He actively participates in fostering legislation at the state level that promotes health in children and adolescents. He currently works at multiple levels to prevent and treat tobacco addiction, prevent childhood obesity and monitor vaccine policy. He is on contract to the state quality improvement organization to oversee the medical analysis Medicaid and other QI programs. He has received multiple accolades for his teaching skills and is a devoted clinician and educator. He co-chairs the ACH institutional bioethics committee.
Uma Nagarajan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology
Division of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Nagarajan is a skilled biochemist and molecular biologist. Her research focus is the determination of the role of type I interferons in chlamydial genital tract infection. Dr. Nagarajan has superb research technical skills, and a broad comprehensive knowledge of cellular biology and physiology, as well as immunology, and bacterial and human genetics. These attributes, along with her excellent experimental design abilities have allowed her to quickly develop into a cutting-edge and respected researcher of chlamydial pathogenesis. She is the recipient of NIH grant funding for her work in Chlamydia.
Holly Maples, PharmD
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice (UAMS College of Pharmacy) and Pediatrics
Dr. Maples is an outstanding clinical pharmacologist and a key member of our HIV care team. She is also co-director of the antimicrobial stewardship program. She has expertise in drug treatments for pediatric HIV, and helps us with the care and counseling of HIV-infected children followed in our clinic. She is a superb educator and makes pharmacokinetics and drug interactions easy to understand. She is readily available to provide information and advice to the pediatric infectious diseases division on drug interactions, pharmacokinetic considerations, as well as information on new drugs considered for treatment of complicated patients.
Cozett Romero, RN, BSNPediatric Infectious Diseases Specialty Nurse
Cozett Romero has been a pediatric nurse for 35 years and a pediatric infectious diseases speciality nurse for 20 years. Her responsibilities include inpatient and outpatient clinical care and the management of Dr. Romero’s and Dr. Wheeler’s patients.
Shawn Collins, BA, MA, RN
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialty Nurse
Shawn Collins has been a pediatric nurse for 18 years at Arkansas Childrens' Hospital. She recently joined the Infectious Diseases team. Her duties include inpatient and outpatient clinical care and the management of Dr. Stovall’s and Dr. Harik's patients.
Jamie Burnside, RN
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialty Nurse
Jamie Burnside has been a pediatric nurse for 12 years. She has extensive experience working in the ER, burn unit, intensive care units, and medical and surgical inpatient units. Her responsibilities include inpatient and outpatient clinical care and the management of Dr. Linam’s patients.
Tanya Hogan
Office Manager
Coordinator Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
Tanya Hogan is the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division Fellowship Coordinator. She assists in arranging recruitment interviews, developing and updating fellowship forms and evaluations. She advises the fellows of required and recommended courses and meetings, aids in collecting evaluations from faculty as well as from fellows in training, and is available to assist the fellows in multiple capacities (arranging schedules, travel, assisting with lecture presentations, and other clerical assistance).
The Place
Arkansas Children's Hospital is a private, not for profit, free standing children's hospital with 316 beds. Established in 1910, the hospital underwent rapid growth in the 1980's and is now one of the largest children's hospitals in the nation. The hospital serves as the major pediatric teaching affiliate for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The hospital is the only pediatric hospital in the state of Arkansas, and serves as a referral center for areas of southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, northern Louisiana and northeast Texas. Nationally renowned programs such as the pediatric cardiovascular surgery program and the ECMO program attract patients from other areas of the country as well.
The hospital is the base for the pediatric residency program of UAMS, which currently has 68 pediatric and 19 medicine-pediatric residents enrolled in the program. Fellows in Pediatric Infectious Diseases play an important role in educating pediatric housestaff in diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents with infectious diseases.
The PICU is a 26-bed unit with approximately 1200 admissions per year. There is a 31 bed cardiovascular intensive care unit, as well as an ECMO unit. There is a separate 12-bed burn unit, as well as an 85-bed NICU. The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division sees an average of 65 new inpatient consultations per month, 25 new outpatient consultations per month and 70 outpatient follow-up visits per month.
Applications should be submitted online through Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).
For further information or questions please write to:
Tanya Hogan
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division
Residency Coordinator
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Department of Pediatrics
Arkansas Children's Hospital
1 Children’s Way, Slot 512-11
Little Rock, Arkansas 72202-3591
Phone: (501) 364-1416 Fax: (501) 364-3551
E-mail:
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Revised: September 2010
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a Conrad 30 waiver program. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
