People: Staff News


Every Gift Counts: UT Health Sciences Giving Day Returns April 21

|

“Travis was bigger than life but loved by all.” For Jeff Adams, MD, that memory of his late classmate Travis Brannon, MD, still captures what made the College of Medicine’s Class of 1986 so close, and why the classmates have chosen to honor him in a way that continues to shape future health care professionals.… Read More


Planting the Seed: Growing Tomorrow’s Health Care Workforce One Field Trip at a Time

|
Two young Black girls are wearing UTHSC white coats. One is holding a pen and looking at the other while smiling, and the other one is smiling at the camera while holding a folder.

Inside a converted Save-A-Lot in the Binghampton neighborhood of Memphis, elementary and middle schoolers pull on white lab coats and other uniforms as they get to work. They are bankers, pharmacists, business owners, and doctors for the day, managing budgets, running storefronts, and making decisions inside a miniature city called JA BizTown, the flagship experiential… Read More


College of Health Professions’ Audiology Program Achieves No. 18 in Country

|
A female audiology practitioner works with a young boy wearing a hearing device, both of them facing a piece of computer equipment in the clinic.

The Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences ranked No. 18 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings, released April 7. The AuD program climbed five spots from last year. “This recognition is a reflection of the people who make this department what… Read More


Teacher Finds Her Path to Dentistry Through Students She Served

|
In a high school classroom, Hannah holds up a gift of a toy apple that says #1 teacher on the box, with science posters in the background.

Hannah Black spent her first year teaching high school science without a teaching license. She had signed up to be a substitute teacher while her husband completed graduate school in Knoxville. But when the phone rang, the school district had a different proposal. “They said, ‘Hi, you have a degree in science, right? Do you… Read More


Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence Announces $1.75 Million in Grant Awards to Agencies Across the State

|
Higher Ground's director and operations manager hold a banner in front of the company

From East Tennessee to West Tennessee, the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences is enabling providers to close health care gaps in rural communities statewide with $1.75 million in grants announced today. Established in 2025 with a $12 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Health, the… Read More


Japanese Scholars Visit One-of-a-Kind Nursing Theory Center at UT Health Sciences

|
The visitors from Japan gathered with Professors Gill and Langford in front of a portrait of Dr. Newman.

A nursing theory that originated at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center has made a major impact worldwide, especially in Japan. Followers of this theory traveled from Japan to Memphis recently to visit the Dr. Margaret A. Newman Center for Nursing Theory, established at the UT Health Sciences College of Nursing in 2023. There… Read More


Proving the Naysayers Wrong: Trailblazing Thoracic Surgeon Dr. John Howington Shows Grace Under Fire

|
Dr. John Howington's headshot with his white coat and stethoscope on.

When someone is a cardiothoracic surgeon, has authored publications, held leadership and teaching roles, presented internationally, been listed in “Best Doctors in America,” trail-blazed cancer prevention and treatment, and helped raise a family, you might think that person grew up surrounded by degrees and overflowing with confidence. “Kind of the opposite,” says John Howington, MD,… Read More


Let Go: Researcher Adapts to Stresses of Life Through Yoga

|
Dr. Colleen Jonsson sits cross-legged on a yoga mat in a studio.

On one of the first sunny days last spring, virologist Colleen Jonsson, PhD, sat outside her office building at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences, face up to the sun. “You have to get your sun,” she says to a passerby. The Harriet S. Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Virology in the Department of… Read More