Two Cancer Institute Scientists Inducted into Arkansas Research Alliance Academy

The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) inducted two of the Cancer Institute’s best and brightest into their Academy of Fellows and Scholars at the organization’s 2021 annual meeting. ARA is a unique assembly of the state’s top researchers, comprised of more than 20 scientists from Arkansas’ six research campuses. 

Cancer Institute Deputy Director Alan Tackett, Ph.D., was inducted as a fellow into the academy. Tackett is a pioneering researcher in the field of proteomics and established the country’s only National Proteomic Center at the Cancer Institute with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research has been continuously funded by the NIH throughout his career, and his research endeavors have resulted in more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has written multiple book chapters, been awarded four U.S. patents, acted as a scientific journal editor-in-chief, and served on more than 35 NIH extramural-funding review panels. 

Tackett oversees three biomedical research laboratories on the UAMS campus and one at the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute. He is also a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UAMS College of Medicine, and the Scharlau Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. 

Renowned cardiologist, Edward Yeh, M.D., FACC, was inducted into the academy as a scholar. Yeh joined UAMS in 2020 as chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Nolan Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine after serving for 16 years as the chair of the Department of Cardiology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Yeh is a leading expert in the field of onco-cardiology. He discovered the molecular basis of chemo-induced cardiotoxicity, which opened a new field of cancer research to find better treatments that minimize the risk of heart complications.