New faculty join UMMC academic ranks
Published on Monday, February 19, 2024
Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.
Dr. Jessica Douglas
DouglasDr. Jessica Douglas, recently a hospitalist at Ochsner Medical Center-Hancock in Bay St. Louis, has rejoined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of family medicine in the School of Medicine.
After earning her medical degree at UMMC in 2016, Douglas completed her family medicine residency at the Medical Center in 2019 before joining Ochsner Medical Center.
At Ochsner she worked as an outpatient primary care physician and as a hospitalist. She also held a number of leadership positions, including secretary of the Medical Executive Committee and chair of the Credentialing, Sepsis, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, and Stroke committees.
Board-certified in family medicine, Douglas is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians.
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Kayla Frizzell Johnson
JohnsonKayla Frizzell Johnson, recently an emergency preparedness nurse with the Northern Public Health Region of the Mississippi State Department of Health in Tupelo, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in the School of Nursing.
Johnson, who received her BS in Nursing from Delta State University, earned her Master of Science in Nursing and Healthcare at UMMC in 2019.
She has also served as an RN/charge RN in the adolescent unit of the Lakeside Behavioral Health System in Memphis, Tennessee; RN in behavioral health at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo; and as a preventive health RN and a COVID nurse for the MSDH Northern Public Health Region.
A member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Johnson belongs to a number of professional organizations, including the Diabetes Coalition of Mississippi, Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition, Asthma Coalition of Mississippi and Mississippi Public Health Association.
Her certifications and expertise encompass chronic disease self-management, mental health first aid, emergency management and more.
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Dr. Monica Brown Lobbins
LobbinsDr. Monica Brown Lobbins, recently a pediatric rheumatology independent consultant at Weatherby Healthcare in North Carolina, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of pediatrics-rheumatology.
Lobbins, who earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania, did her residency training in pediatrics at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida.
At the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, she completed a fellowship in pediatric rheumatology and a post-doctoral research fellowship. Board-certified in pediatrics, she also served on the pediatrics faculty at UTHSC for 10 years.
She also served as a pediatric rheumatology independent consultant for Weatherby Healthcare in Durham, North Carolina, CompHealth in Midvale, Utah; and GenieMD in San Francisco, California. In Wallkill, New York, she provided medical services via telemedicine.
Lobbins, whose areas of research are arthritis, rheumatic disease and scleroderma, is the coauthor of numerous scientific publications
She is a member of the Sigma Sigma Phi Osteopathic Honor Society and the TriBeta National Honor Society in Biology, as well as a variety of professional societies, including the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Alliance (CARRA), American College of Osteopathic Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Rheumatology and Arthritis Foundation.
She has served as a reviewer for Clinical Pediatrics, Arthritis & Rheumatism, Clinical Rheumatology, and CARRA.