The University of Mississippi Medical Center has received its largest single award ever to confront one of the state's largest health issues.

The five-year, $19.9 million award from the National Institutes of Health will fund the Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR.) Supported by the NIH's Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program, the CCTR's mission will be the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of obesity and related health conditions.

“Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity in the United States,” said Dr. James Wilson, professor of physiology and biophysics and the project's lead investigator. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 35 percent of Mississippi adults are obese.

With six schools, four hospitals, state-of-the-art research facilities, more than 10,000 employees and 3,000 students, the Medical Center campus can be an intimidating place. Complicated wayfinding, noisy construction and a stadium parking lot filled to overflowing can make matters even more challenging.

For those embarking on a health-science education at UMMC, the usual “first day at a new school” jitters can be compounded by an environment unlike any other in the state. 

Luckily for them, those who have recently walked in their shoes offer suggestions on how to become acclimated to their new educational home:

Dr. Walter “Mack” Gorton of Belzoni, who for four decades has cared for patients with some of the nation's highest rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity, was celebrated Saturday as the 2016 Distinguished Medical Alumnus - much to his initial surprise.

“Several weeks ago when they told me about this, I nearly fainted,” he said in his remarks during an awards dinner in Jackson.

Gorton, a 1968 UMMC School of Medicine graduate, was one of six physicians honored, including the five latest inductees into the university's Medical Alumni Chapter Hall of Fame. They are Dr. Alton Cobb, Dr. Martin L. Dalton Jr., Dr. W. Briggs Hopson Jr., Dr. James “Jim” Martin and Dr. David Watson.

Sponsored by the Medical Alumni Chapter and the Office of Alumni Affairs at UMMC, the event paid tribute to those who “embody that spirit, that passion and that commitment we need in Mississippi,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Also commending the guests of honor was Dr. Jeffrey Vitter, University of Mississippi chancellor, who said, “Our greatest strength is our people. That value resonates around the world. … I continue to be wowed on a daily basis about the transformational value of the Medical Center.”

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center garnered $5,835,711 from 30 new grants and awards from April through June 2016. The following faculty and staff obtained the largest new awards during the period (note: Award amounts are calculated as annual figures):