Phi Kappa Phi announces inductees; researchers published in prestigious journal

Published on Monday, June 2, 2025

By: Gary Pettus, gpettus@umc.edu

Medical Center faculty and staff often are recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for their academic or medical achievements. These accolades place UMMC among health science centers worldwide.

Honor society selects UMMC students for their love of learning

More than 40 students at the University of Mississippi Medical Center have been inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for 2024-2025.

The Phi Kappa Phi motto, “Let the love of learning rule humanity,” acknowledges the academic achievement of scholars from all disciplines who are also committed to serving others.

For undergraduate seniors, membership is reserved for those who meet highly selective standards of scholarship and character. Graduate students and students in professional schools must be among the most accomplished of their peers.

The University of Mississippi Chapter, which includes UMMC, was chartered in May 1959 as the 77th of Phi Kappa Phi. The nationwide chapter was founded in 1897 at the University of Maine.

Medical Center inductees were recognized during UMMC’s Commencement services May 23.

The initiates and their schools are:

• School of Dentistry – Ansley Byars and Bayley Graves
• School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences – Summer Morrissette, Sheetal Chowdhury, Juliana Sitta and Ashley Johnson
• School of Health Related Professions – Katie Babb, Caroline Bankston, Lillian Boland, Joseph Buchman, Caroline Dew, Avery Douglass, Taylor Gregory, Lakin Hamm, Walker Hardin, Mallory Hunt, Mallory Irby, Anna Lloyd, Prekeylia Reed, Megan Rush and Mari-Todd Stephens
• School of Medicine – Elizabeth Kerby, Hunter Mace, Roger Mishoe and Avery Watson
• School of Nursing – Taneshia Adams, Hannah Bullard, Amber Cavalier, Emily Denson, Audrey Funkhouser, Tiffany Garrett, Tylicia Grove-Overstreet, Lisa Hosey, Taylor James, Taylor McDonald, Shaneka Patterson, Kevin Patterson Sr., Stephanie Tullos, Alicia Turner and Sarah Wilkerson
• John D. Bower School of Population Health – Rahat Noor

For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, email the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

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JAMA prints UMMC editorial on maternal, congenital syphilis

The Journal of the American Medical Association has published an editorial by three University of Mississippi Medical Center researchers who investigated the rise of syphilis in the United States.

The authors are Dr. Thomas Dobbs, dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health and Endowed Chair for the Study of Health Disparities; Dr. Manuela Staneva, an instructor in the School of Population Health; and Dr. Victoria Gholar, assistant professor of population health science.

Published on May 13, “One Ounce of Prevention: Maternal Screening and the Fight Against Congenital Syphilis” explores the issues and outcomes of maternal syphilis and the importance of screening to reduce the outcomes of congenital syphilis.

“Prevention is the best pathway for curbing the epidemic of congenital syphilis nationwide. And there is no time like the present,” Staneva said.

According to Dobbs, the editorial outlines the importance of screening all pregnancies for syphilis and the collective responsibility to protect mothers and babies from this easily treated disease that is making a strong comeback.

The spike in maternal syphilis has driven the sharp rise in congenital syphilis. In 2023, the United States recorded the highest number of congenital syphilis cases in more than 30 years, mostly among mothers who lack prenatal care.

Dobbs said the team was asked to write the editorial comment on behalf of the new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines on syphilis screening in pregnancy, which reaffirm and emphasize the organization’s 2018 recommendations: Everyone who is pregnant should be screened for syphilis as early as possible. 

According to the USPSTF, syphilis is an infection that is primarily sexually transmitted, and, if untreated during pregnancy, can be passed on to the fetus, risking premature birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, neonatal death and significant abnormalities.

“UMMC has been on the cutting edge of this type of research nationally for a while now,” Dobbs said. “In our research studies, we first discovered a connection between infant mortality and congenital syphilis.

“One of the reasons this has been an issue is that the syphilis diagnosis was being missed in pregnancy, and the mothers were not treated. Greater awareness and education caused a decrease in these diagnoses with effective and immediate screenings and treatments, but the numbers have now increased greatly.

“We had this beat back in the 1990s, but now, there has just been phenomenal growth in the problem.”

He added that contributing factors include an increase in syphilis overall and in reproductive age women, trends in birth control disparity among lower-income citizens and the cost of the effective treatment, benzathine penicillin, which has become exorbitant.

“In Mississippi, we must continue working to increase access to early and consistent prenatal care – especially in our rural and underserved communities,” Gholar said.

“Many of the mothers most at risk are those who encounter barriers to care due to transportation, lack of insurance or provider shortages. Just as important is addressing low-health literacy, which can prevent expectant mothers from understanding the urgency of prenatal visits, the risks of untreated infections like syphilis and how to navigate our complex health-care system.”

Ongoing screening for syphilis during pregnancy is extremely important, Dobbs said. And although most states have been well aware of the screening’s importance during the first trimester of pregnancy, six states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas – have gone beyond this measure.  They also have mandated syphilis screening during the last trimester and at delivery. 

“Those six states provide an example for a comprehensive preventive approach that is especially needed during times of increasing incidence of syphilis,” the editorial said.