UMMC faculty, staff earn kudos

Published on Monday, December 6, 2021

Medical Center physician lauded for resident mentorship

Dr. Calvin Thigpen, associate professor of medicine, is being honored for his commitment as a mentor to residents and fellows.

Thigpen will receive the 2021 Mentor of the Year Award – Post Graduate Division from the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation on February 11 during the 2022 Southern Regional Meeting in New Orleans.

“I've learned much from the colleagues with whom I've worked in the SSCI as well and thank them for this recognition,” Thigpen said. “I hope that many of our residents and fellows will remain involved in the SSCI and enjoy those same types of collaborative relationships during their careers.”

Members of the SSCI are devoted to mentoring medical investigators and promoting careers in academic medicine.

Winners of the SSCI’s mentor awards are members of the organization who, “through their positive impact on the mentee's careers, have advanced medical education and research for the benefit of the community at large,” its website states.

“It has been a joy and an honor to be a part of the lives of so many of our residents, chief residents and fellows,” Thigpen said. “They have had an enormous positive impact on my life, as have my own mentors who have guided me through my career thus far.”

Thigpen, who graduated from the School of Medicine at UMMC in 2005, did his internal medicine residency at UMMC and completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology in 2012. He is now program director for the internal medicine residency program and vice chair for education for the Department of Medicine.

Besides the SSCI, joint society members of the Southern Regional Meeting are the Academic Pediatric Association, American Federation for Medical Research, Society of General Internal Medicine and the Southern Society for Pediatric Research.

The meeting is jointly sponsored by the Tulane University Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Carl Mangum elected Mississippi Nurses’ Association president

Dr. Carl Mangum, associate professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Mississippi, is president of the Mississippi Nurses’ Association.

Elected to the post this fall, Mangum is director of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track in the School of Nursing on the UMMC campus and an emergency preparedness and response specialist. Mangum has taught nursing at UMMC for nearly 21 years.

Mangum is also the team commander of Delta-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team for the U.S. Department of Human Services.

An active member of the Mississippi Nurses’ Association for many years, Mangum previously served as the association’s vice president from 2007 to 2011 and treasurer from 2017 to 2019.

The Mississippi Nurses’ Association is the only professional nursing association in Mississippi representing registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses across all nursing roles and specialties. 

MNA has been representing, advocating and lobbying for RNs and APRNs for more than a century. For more information on the Mississippi Nurses’ Association, visit www.msnurses.org.

American Cancer Society honors UMMC physicians

Two Medical Center physicians have been honored by the American Cancer Society for partnering with the nonprofit in preventing and detecting cancer.

Dr. Pierre de Delva, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, is the ACS South Region 2021 Cancer Control Partner of the Year. Dr. William Robinson, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is the 2021 Get Screened Champion of the Year. They will be honored Dec. 10 at the ACS’ Volunteer Awards Luncheon in Jackson.

“Without your dedication and determination, I doubt that our lung cancer biomarker testing ECHO pilot would have been such a success,” Beth Dickson-Gavney, the South Region’s senior director of cancer control strategic partnerships, told de Delva in a letter notifying him of the honor.

“You and UMMC may never know how many lives you have touched and saved because of your tireless servant leadership during the pandemic,” Dickson-Garvey told Robinson in his notification letter. “We are so incredibly humbled by your spirit and your tenacity to ensure that Mississippians have access to and the information they need to get quality and timely cancer screenings.”

All volunteers honored were recognized for making an impact on cancer across Mississippi.