A generous gift from retired University of Mississippi Medical Center professor and physician Dr. Edgar Draper of Jackson has now become a fully endowed fund, continuing in perpetuity a lectureship in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and recognitions for top psychiatry residents. The Edgar Draper, M.D., Psychiatry Support Fund at the University of Mississippi Foundation benefits UMMC. It honors Draper, who served as chair of the department for 20 years. During that time, he brought the department from three to 33 faculty members and from three residents to 22. The lectureship fund goal of $25,000 has been met, a feat made possible not just by Draper, but contributions from his friends, family and colleagues in the medical profession. "I'm delighted at the response of many people who have taken this thing over the top," Draper said. "I feel like celebrating." "We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Draper for his continued involvement in the education of our residents in psychiatry at UMMC," said Dr. Scott Rodgers, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. "His commitment to this department has been longstanding, and this fund allows us to recognize excellence." The Psychiatry Support Fund for several years has been hard at work, Draper said, with the inaugural lecture being delivered in October 2013 by Dr. Tom Mosley, professor of geriatric medicine and neurology and director of the MIND Center at UMMC. And, one of Draper's former School of Medicine residents, Dr. Joseph Novello, gave a grand rounds presentation in October 2014 in association with the Psychiatry Support Fund. Novello is an adult and child/adolescent psychiatrist, consultant and teacher in Washington, D.C. "He's a remarkably capable person," Draper said of Novello. "He was kind enough to offer to come for free, and he did." The fund supports annual recognition, including a plaque and cash gift, of a senior psychiatry resident who shows excellence as a scholar and clinician. Previous winners include Dr. Ankur Bindal, 2012; Dr. Pavan Pamadurthi, 2013; and Dr. Umesh Bhandari, 2014. Continuing gifts to the fund are encouraged by the UMMC Office of Development, said Gift Officer Sheila Henderson. Gifts can be made online at https://www.umc.edu/givenow/ Under UMMC options, choose the Ed Draper, M.D., Psychiatry Support Fund. Or, send checks payable to the UMMC Fund-Edgar Draper Fund to the UMMC Office of Development, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 N. State St. Jackson, MS 39216.
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