UTHSC News


Opening a New Door in the Children’s Mental Health Crisis

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In his third year of pediatric residency, Ryan Murphy, MD, found himself referring child after child to psychiatrists who had no openings. Waitlists stretched for months. “Feeling the frustration of wanting to help but not having the expertise really reinforced that this was the path I wanted to follow,” he says. That path led him… Read More


BSN Student Sets, Achieves Marathon and Graduation Goals

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Lexi Duscher in her scrubs with a marathon medal around her neck.

Lexi Duscher is a person who finishes what she starts, whether it’s a marathon or nursing school. Ask anyone who has attempted to achieve either goal, and they’ll tell you that both are challenging to complete. But Lexi, 24, graduated from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program this August at the University of… Read More


Wellness at UT Health Sciences Finds Its Person

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Dr. Corinne Webster and her dog outside the Student Alumni Center with green and white trees in the background.

Fifteen years ago, Corinne Webster spent her days waving from the back of a 27-foot hot dog. She was one of 12 people nationwide chosen to drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, crisscrossing the country in her twenties for a job that mixed public relations with pure spectacle. It sent her from city to city with… Read More


Experienced Human Resources Leader Tapped for Top HR Position at UT Health Sciences

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Paul Thomas

Paul D. Thomas, a senior human resources executive with 30 years of leadership in higher education and corporate environments, has been named the associate vice chancellor for Human Resources at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences. He assumes the role Sept. 1. Thomas served as the associate vice president for Administration and Finance and chief… Read More


A Fitting Send-Off: Hamilton Eye Institute’s Summer Symposium Caps Years of Student Discovery

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Dr. Monica Jablonski presents Dr. T.J. Hollingsworth with a clear award in front of a wooden podium.

For six years, T.J. Hollingsworth, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Biochemistry in the College of Medicine, has turned a single summer day into one of the most anticipated traditions at the Hamilton Eye Institute (HEI) at UT Health Sciences. As organizer… Read More


UT Health Sciences’ Care for the Community on Display at 2026 Health Care Heroes Awards

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Dr. Alicia Barnes accepting a 2026 Healh Care Heroes Award.

“Care, create, connect: This is my vision for child mental health in Memphis,” Alicia Barnes, DO, the Urban Child Institute Endowed Chair of Excellence in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences, said Thursday evening during the 27th annual Health Care Heroes Awards.  Dr. Barnes,… Read More


What Is It Eating? A Researcher’s Six-Year Chase to Understand How a Deadly Mold Survives Inside Human Lungs

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Portrait of Dr. Jarrod Fortwendel sitting in the lab

Every day, we breathe in spores of Aspergillus fumigatus without a second thought. The mold is everywhere — in soil, in compost, in the air of nearly every room we enter. For most people, the immune system clears it out before it ever becomes a problem. But for someone with a weakened immune system, those… Read More


Campus Police Continues to Strengthen Safety Efforts as Crime Remains Low

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A campus police officer standing in front of a new squad car, which is black with orange writing that reads "UT Health Sciences Police"

Crime remained low on the University of Tennessee Health Sciences campus in 2025, with statistics showing continued declines in assaults, thefts and other reported offenses, while many of the most serious crimes were absent for another year. The statistics were presented during a recent University of Tennessee Board of Trustees meeting. A review of campus… Read More