New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Published on Monday, January 24, 2022

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Dr. Khushboo Agrawal

Dr. Khushboo Agrawal, recently a staff physician at North Mississippi Retina Center in Tupelo, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of ophthalmology in the School of Medicine.

Agrawal-Patel, a 2009 graduate of the School of Medicine at UMMC, did her internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and her residency at the University of Chicago before completing a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery in 2015 at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

As a medical student, she was awarded two Medical Student Training in Aging Research Grants by Harvard University.

Agrawal-Patel has made numerous oral and poster presentations. She is the co-author of several published professional articles and is a member of such professional organizations as the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Retina Specialists, and Women in Ophthalmology.

Her clinical interests include diabetic retinopathy and diseases of the macula.

Kristen B. Callahan

Kristen B. Callahan, Project Manager II for UMMC’s University Physicians Associates, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor, Health Systems Administration, in the School of Health Related Professions.

Callahan received her Masters of Health Science, Health Administration from UMMC and is working on her Doctor of Health Administration at UMMC. Before joining the Medical Center, she worked in public and higher education in Mississippi. She served as a teacher and then as an early childhood literacy director before taking on a statewide role as training and assessment coordinator for the Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral Network.

She joined UMMC in 2016 as a pediatric research specialist and grant & regulatory specialist. Two years later, she became a Project Manager II for the Child Health and Development Project: Mississippi Thrive! In the Department of Pediatrics. 

Callahan is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Katie J. Fabian

Katie J. Fabian, recently a health promotion specialist at Tulane University Campus Health in New Orleans, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in the School of Nursing.

Fabian received her master’s degree in public health, community health education, in 2020 from the University of Lynchburg in Virginia, where she had worked for the university’s Health and Counseling Services as a graduate intern, contributing to wellness education and issues related to the well-being of students.

Her previous work experience includes two years as an intern with a childhood obesity program at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia.

Fabian, a peer educator certified by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, is a member of the American College Health Association and the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery.

 
Joseph E. “Joe” Farmer

Joseph E. “Joe” Farmer, recently an assistant professor in the Simulation Program at the University of South Alabama, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor in the School of Nursing.

Farmer received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UMMC School of Nursing before earning his Master of Science in Nursing, Community Health, in 1997, at the University of Southern Mississippi College of Nursing in Hattiesburg. At USM, he also completed courses toward a PhD in international development.

He first joined the Medical Center in 1995 as a staff nurse in the adult emergency department before taking on the same role at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

Farmer has also worked as a clinical educator at Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, Arizona; an instructor in the USM College of Nursing, Long Beach campus; and an assistant professor in the USA College of Nursing before joining USA’s Simulation Program.

He is the lead author or co-author of numerous published articles in professional journals and is the recipient of various research grant awards. Farmer’s list of international and national presentations is extensive.

His many honors and awards include Leader of Leaders, Alabama Association of Student Nurses, and the Metro Jackson HIV/AIDS Outstanding Service Award. He is a member of such professional organizations as the Association of Standardized Patient Educators, the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and the American Public Health Association.