New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Published on Monday, March 13, 2023

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

Dr. Harendra Arora

Dr. Harendra Arora, recently the Edward A. Norfleet, MD ’70 Distinguished Professor in Anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, has joined the Medical Center faculty as professor and chair of anesthesiology in the School of Medicine.

Arora, former professor and vice chair of education in the Department of Anesthesiology at UNC, received his medical degree in 1990 from the Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, before completing a residency in general surgery at Lady Hardinge Medical College at the University of Delhi.

He completed a residency in anesthesiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where he was also a fellow in cardiothoracic anesthesiology. He holds a Master of Business Administration from UNC’s Kenan Business School.

Arora served as interim chief in the Department of Anesthesiology at Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock; associate professor of anesthesiology at UAMS; associate professor of anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and section head of vascular and transplant anesthesia at UNC.

He also served as the residency program director of anesthesiology at UNC from 2012 through 2020.

Arora is board-certified in anesthesiology and in advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography.

He was named the Clinical Researcher of the Year, 2018-2019, for the Department of Anesthesiology at UNC, where he was honored multiple times as a member of the Outstanding Clinical Research Faculty. He is the recipient the Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award and the Gladys Sessler Outcomes Research Consortium Annual Prize for Extraordinary Contributions to Collaborative Research.

His areas of expertise include liver transplant and vascular anesthesia, cardiothoracic anesthesia, regional anesthesia and more.

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Dr. Olufunto Badmus

Dr. Olufunto Badmus, recently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at UMMC, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor of physiology and biophysics in the School of Medicine.

Badmus earned a Master of Science in physiology at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, where she also completed her PhD in physiology in 2019.

Her faculty positions have included Lecturer II at Kwara State University in Malete, Nigeria, where she also served as project manager for the HOPE Cardiometabolic Research Team, Departmental Examination Officer, and coordinator of anatomy and physiology units.

She has received grants and awards from the American Heart Association; Physiological Society (United Kingdom); Association of African Universities; International Congress of the African Association of Physiological Sciences and Physiological Society of Nigeria; and American Physiological Society, among others.

She is the author or co-author of about 20 professional journal articles, numerous published abstracts and oral presentations, and a published book chapter.