People: Staff News


Rooted in Tennessee: Pediatric Surgeon Brings a Lifetime of Commitment to Chattanooga Community

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Dr. Dave Battacharya sits in a room with medical equipment.

For S. Dave Bhattacharya, MD, medicine was never a distant goal. It was a part of his everyday life. Just before he was born, his father, Syamal Bhattacharya, joined the University of Tennessee Health Sciences in 1979, spending decades as a researcher in the Departments of Neurology and Surgery, and he’s still a faculty member… Read More


‘We Are on a Roll,’ Chancellor Buckley Says at Town Hall

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Dr. Karla Leeper speaks at the town hall, seated between Chancellor Peter Buckley and Raaj Kurapati

Executive leadership at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences held a town hall Thursday on the Memphis campus to discuss the university’s momentum, pay raises for employees, a refresh to the university’s branding and other updates. “We are on a roll, and we’ve got great momentum,” Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, told the faculty and staff… Read More


PhD Graduate’s Work Could Alter Stroke Treatment Paradigm

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Dr. Nicole Schumacher poses with her family for a professional photo outside with palm trees in the background.

Nicole Schumacher began working at 14, when she started helping her dad with his eBay side business of selling electronic components from their garage. At 18, the California native worked for Best Buy and had no plans for college. Today, Dr. Schumacher is doing research on glucose levels in stroke patients, especially in the very early stage of the stroke called… Read More


Life, Amplified

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An audiology student looking into a young patient's ear

In the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, care, learning, and community come together one patient at a time. On a recent morning inside the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Audiology and Speech Pathology (ASP) clinic in downtown Knoxville, Rachel Brock sat for a routine appointment she has experienced dozens of times before. A clinician adjusted the settings on her… Read More


Seven UT Health Sciences Physicians Named to Inaugural Memphis Medical Society Hall of Fame

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The honored physicians stand together in a line, wearing their Hall of Fame white coats at the Memphis Medical Society gala.

When the Memphis Medical Society named its inaugural Hall of Fame class recently, seven of the 10 honorees could trace their training, faculty careers, or both to the University of Tennessee Health Sciences. For 150 years, the Memphis Medical Society has stood alongside the physicians who built medicine in the city. The Hall of Fame… Read More


UT Health Sciences Team Earns 4 Statewide Communications Awards

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Four TCPRA awards displayed on a table

The University of Tennessee Health Sciences Office of Communications and Marketing earned four awards, including two top honors, at the 2026 Tennessee College Public Relations Association (TCPRA) conference. The annual event, held May 20–22 in Chattanooga, brought together communicators from public and private colleges and universities across the state. This year’s competition drew a record-breaking… Read More


Nurturing Beginnings: Dr. Alicia Barnes and Team Are Helping Create Healthier Communities for Children

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Dr. Alicia Barnes stands in a green dress indoors with green foliage in the foreground and a research poster in the background.

Memphis wasn’t on Alicia Barnes’ bingo card, but she saw an alignment she couldn’t ignore. The physician arrived three years ago, answering a listserv post from a colleague she had first met as a medical student at a national community psychiatry conference. She wasn’t actively looking. Yet when Altha Stewart, MD, posted about a leadership… Read More


NightinGala Marks a Decade of Honoring Mid-South Nurses

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Dean Wendy Likes stands beside nurse Leatriece Franklin, who's holding a blue, teardrop-shaped award.

“Never underestimate the power of showing up and serving others,” said Leatriece Franklin, MHA, MSN, RN, as she received the 2026 Dr. John W. Runyan, Jr., Community Nursing Award at the recent 10th annual NightinGala. The award recognizes a registered nurse practicing in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Arkansas, who has made significant contributions to the development… Read More