New faculty join UMMC academic ranks
Published on Monday, February 26, 2024
Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.
Dr. Jeane Camille Beals
BealsDr. Jeane Camille Beals, recently an assistant professor of nursing and clinical supervisor at the University of North Alabama in Florence, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of nursing instruction in the School of Nursing.
Beals earned her Master of Science in Nursing Nurse Educator degree at Alcorn State University in Lorman before receiving her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in nursing administration in 2016 from Samford University in Alabama, where she also earned nursing education certification.
She has also served as a faculty member for the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Adjunct RN to BSN instructor at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, ADN program director at Northeast Mississippi Community College, ATI Virtual and Capstone Educator for Ascend Learning, and staff RN and clinical nurse educator at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo
Beals is a member of several national honor societies, including Sigma Theta Tau, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Tau Delta and Kappa Delta Pi. She has served as a member or chair of a number of nursing program service committees and civic/service committees.
She is a member of the Mississippi Nurses Association and the National League for Nursing.
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Meagan Cherry
CherryMeagan Cherry, a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with more than 13 years of combined professional experience, including seven years in advanced practice at North Mississippi Medical Center, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in the School of Nursing.
After earning an Associate Degree in Nursing from Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2010 and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mississippi University for Women in 2014, she is now focused on pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at UMMC, where she earned her Master of Science in Nursing in 2016.
Cherry has worked as a Registered Nurse for NMMC in Tupelo and as a Family Nurse Practitioner serving at NMMC clinics in Tupelo, Pontotoc, and Booneville. She has also worked as a nurse practitioner at Lindsay Clinic in Myrtle.
She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and has participated in a number of continuing medical education opportunities, including the Mayo Clinic’s 26th Annual Clinical Reviews and Primary Care Update 2019.
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Dr. Priya A. Kumar
KumarDr. Priya A. Kumar, recently a clinical professor of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of anesthesiology in the School of Medicine.
Kumar earned her MBBS (MD) in 1994 at the University of Delhi Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals in New Delhi, India.
She completed her residency in anesthesiology and transitional medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where she served as a clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology for several years; and a fellowship in cardiothoracic anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio (Lerner College of Medicine), where she was a clinical associate professor of anesthesiology and staff anesthesiology.
At the UNC School of Medicine, she was also director of clinical research for five years.
Throughout her career, she has earned a number of academic and clinical care honors, including the Gladys Sessler Outcomes Research Consortium Annual Prize for Extraordinary Contributions to Collaborative Research at the American Society of Anesthesiologists meeting in Washington, D.C.
A Fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, she is the co-author of more than a dozen professional publications books or book chapters, 16 refereed research papers/articles, and more than 60 other peer-reviewed articles. Her list of lectures, grand rounds and other oral presentations, as well as abstract presentations and exhibits. is extensive. She has been principal investigator or co-investigator on about two dozen grant-funded research projects.
Kumar is an editorial board member or a contributing member, reviewer or national committee member for a number of professional journals or associations. She is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and several other professional societies.