New faculty join UMMC academic ranks

Published on Monday, July 24, 2023

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

Dr. Ahmad T. Hamed

Dr. Ahmad T. Hamed, recently a pediatric cardiac critical care fellow at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of pediatrics-critical care in the School of Medicine. 

After earning his medical degree at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Doha, Qatar, he completed a pediatrics residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a pediatric critical care fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the recipient of several academic and teaching awards. 

Hamed, who has clinical teaching experience, has made a number of professional presentations and participated in several research projects. He is board-certified in general pediatrics and pediatric critical care medicine.  

—  —  —

Lacy Hester

Lacy Hester, recently a clinical nursing staff development specialist at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor of nursing in the School of Nursing.  

Hester earned her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of North Alabama in Florence in 2021 after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Chamberlain University in Downers Grove, Illinois.  

Before joining Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, she served as a pre-operative nurse at Specialty Orthopedic Group Surgery Center in Tupelo, charge nurse in labor and delivery at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County in New Albany, and as adjunct nursing instructor on the Tupelo campus of Itawamba Community College. 

Hester has certifications as an American Heart Association instructor and provider in basic life support; advanced cardiac life support; pediatric advanced life support; and pediatric emergency assessment, recognition and stabilization. She is also a certified lactation counselor. 

—  —  —

Dr. Erin Norcross

Dr. Erin Norcross, recently an associate professor of biology and director of the Honors College at Mississippi College in Clinton, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of advanced biomedical education in the School of Medicine.  

After completing a Master of Science in Biology at Mississippi College in 2006, she earned a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences in 2010 and, one year later, a PhD in microbiology at UMMC. 

Her other teaching positions included adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Millsaps College in Jackson, instructor in the Department of Microbiology at UMMC, and assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Mississippi College.  

The winner of a variety of academic and teaching honors, Norcross served in numerous leadership roles and made extensive contributions to research at Mississippi College.  

She is the co-author of close to two dozen professional publications and has participated in a number of research presentations.